New York Scraps Marathon Amid Sandy Clear-Up

Sunday's New York City Marathon has been cancelled due to a public backlash against the road race in the aftermath of superstorm Sandy, the city's mayor has announced.

The U-turn came just three hours after mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the decision to hold it - despite mounting criticism from New Yorkers, many of whom are struggling with fuel shortages and continuing power cuts.

They complained that holding the event just six days after the disaster would be insensitive and tie up precious resources.

Residents were concerned the city's already stretched police force would be redeployed to patrol the race from handling relief work - and feared storm victims would be evicted from hotels to make room for people coming into town for the race.

Runners make their way through Queens during the 2011 race

There had been growing anger too at the thought of big generators being brought in to power equipment at the finish-line tents in Central Park, while vast swathes of the city's population were still struggling without electricity.

Although electricity was expected to be restored across most of Manhattan on Friday, about 3.5 million customers still remain without power along the US East Coast. Some may not have power until mid-November.

Mr Bloomberg insisted that holding the race would not take resources away from the recovery effort, but said he understood the level of friction and opposition to it.

"It is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division," he said. "The marathon has always brought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination."

A man shovels away sand swept in by the storm surge generated by Sandy

An estimated 40,000 runners from around the world had been expected to take part in the 26.2-mile event.

"We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it," the mayor said in a statement.

"We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event - even one as meaningful as this - to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track."

The race had been scheduled to start in Staten Island, one of the hardest-hit areas by this week's storm.

A woman looks through the wreckage of her home in Staten Island

There residents picked through their belongings, searching for anything that could be salvaged as piled up rubbish, mud-caked mattresses and couches lined the streets. Hundreds of people remain in shelters after their homes were destroyed.

Earlier, Mr Bloomberg had said he hoped to lift spirits and unite the storm-stricken city when he decided to press ahead with the event.

He pointed out that his predecessor, mayor Rudolph Giuliani, went ahead with the marathon in 2011, just two months after the September 11 attacks, and "it pulled people together".

But, in a sign of how the political mood was turning against Mr Bloomberg, city comptroller John Liu warned that it had become clear that holding the marathon this weekend would "compromise the city's ability to protect and provide for the residents most affected by the hurricane".

A fallen tree on top of a parked car in the borough of Queens in New York

The New York Police Department has been stretched as its officers man checkpoints, patrol blacked-out neighbourhoods, direct traffic at crossroads where traffic lights are out and stand guard amid long queues at petrol stations.

"I haven't driven past a single working gas station that doesn't have cops patrolling the lines and keeping the peace," said John Murphy III, a Staten Island lawyer.

"I don't know how long they can keep it up at this pace."

In a move to ease the fuel shortage, the Obama administration directed the Defence Logistics Agency to buy up to 45 million litres of unleaded fuel and 38 million litres of diesel for distribution to areas affected by Sandy.

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Expenses: MacShane Letters Protected By Rules

Letters in which a former Labour minister admitted expenses abuses cannot be used to prosecute him because they are protected by parliamentary privilege, an official has said.

Denis MacShane stepped down as an MP after a damning report from the Commons expenses watchdog found he had wrongly claimed thousands of pounds.

The report said he submitted 19 false invoices "plainly intended to deceive" Parliament's expenses authority - which said the case was the "gravest" it had dealt with.

There are now calls for a police investigation into Mr MacShane's expense claims, which was dropped in July, to be reopened.

The Metropolitan Police said: "We are aware of the report and will be assessing its content in due course."

The letters, which were never shown to the original inquiry because of parliamentary privilege, are likely to be examined by the police, but are still protected from being used in court.

Clerk of the Journals Liam Laurence Smyth, who is responsible for parliamentary privilege issues, admitted that many people would find the situation "surprising", but said privilege was necessary for Parliament to function effectively.

Even if Mr MacShane had openly admitted criminal behaviour in his evidence, the police would not be able to rely on the comments in court, he said.

However, he suggested the police might now be able to use the letters as a "map" to further their own enquiries.

Conservative MP Philip Davies, who urged the Met to reopen its investigation, said it was a "sad state of affairs" that Mr MacShane was protected by parliamentary privilege.

"All it will do is further undermine the reputation of Parliament," he said.

"There will be millions of people out there who think that MPs are above the law and that is what the perception will be."

Parliamentary Standards Commissioner John Lyon found the MP had entered 19 "misleading" expenses claims for research and translation services from a body called the European Policy Institute (EPI), signed by its supposed general manager.

However, the institute did not exist "in this form" by the time in question and the general manager's signature was provided by Mr MacShane himself or someone else "under his authority".

One letter from the MP to Mr Lyon in October 2009 described how he drew funds from the EPI so he could serve on a book-judging panel in Paris.

"I appreciate the committee's ruling that I made no personal gain and I regret my foolishness in the manner I chose to be reimbursed for work including working as the Prime Minister's personal envoy in Europe," he said.

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Obama And Romney Trade Economy Blows

US President Barack Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney have each seized on new employment figures to bolster their campaigns with just days to go before Tuesday's election.

Jobs and the economy were the dominant issue in the presidential race as both candidates arrived in the key swing state of Ohio to address voters.

The latest employment snapshot showed the US economy added 171,000 net new jobs in October. It also showed hiring was stronger in August and September than first thought.

Mr Obama, who faces voters with the highest unemployment rate of any incumbent since Franklin Roosevelt during the Great Depression of the 1930s, told supporters in Hilliard that another month of job growth was "real progress".

But he went on to declare: "We've got more work to do."

At the same time, the unemployment rate rose to 7.9% in October, from 7.8% in September, mainly because more people began looking for work.

Mr Obama waves to supporters during a rally at Lima Senior High School

That news was seized upon by the Republicans as proof the economy is still stagnating, and would be safer in the hands of businessman Mr Romney, who said the jobs report was a "sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill".

In September, the jobless rate had fallen from 8.1% to 7.8% and the drop was used by Mr Obama's campaign as evidence that the fragile US economy was finally on the mend.

Back on the campaign trail after two days lost due to superstorm Sandy on the US East Coast, both men reflected on the past few days' events.

Mr Obama described the disaster as "one of the worst storms in our history", adding: "As a nation, we mourn those who were lost."

Mr Romney said: "We are a nation of generous hearts - and those hearts are called upon in a time of crisis like this."

Both insisted they were the better man to lead the country and were the true agent of change.

Mr Romney said Mr Obama had "fallen short of what he promised" when he was elected four years ago.

"Candidate Obama promised change, but he could not deliver it. I promise change, and I have a record of achieving it," he said.

"The question of this election comes down to this: do you want more of the same or do you want real change? And we bring real change," Mr Romney told a rally in West Allis, Wisconsin.

Mr Romney speaks to supporters in West Allis, Wisconsin

Mr Obama took aim at Mr Romney, accusing him of running dishonest adverts on the automotive industry to scare voters in Ohio, saying: "This isn't a game. These are people's jobs."

The adverts, which have been airing in Toledo, suggest carmakers General Motors and Chrysler are adding jobs in China at the expense of workers in Ohio.

Responding to the ads, Mr Obama said: "Everybody knows it's not true."

Mr Obama accused Mr Romney of trying to alarm Ohioans "just to scare up some votes".

Chrysler and GM officials said the ads were inaccurate.

"After four years as president, you know me," Mr Obama said.

"You may not agree with every decision I've made. You may be frustrated sometimes at the pace of change, but you know what I believe. You know where I stand.

"You know I tell the truth. You know I fight for you and your families every single day as hard as I know how," he added, before heading to another rally in Lima, a city in Allen County.

No Republican candidate for the White House has ever won the election without capturing Ohio.

Mr Obama is thought to be slightly ahead in the state, which delivers 18 electoral college votes.

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Savile Inquiry: Freddie Starr Released On Bail

Freddie Starr has been released on police bail after being questioned by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex scandal.

The 69-year-old had been arrested in Warwickshire on suspicion of sexual offences by officers working on Operation Yewtree.

He was bailed during the early hours of this morning.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Officers working on Operation Yewtree yesterday (Thursday) arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation.

"The man, from Warwickshire, was arrested at approximately 5.45pm on suspicion of sexual offences, and was taken into custody. He has since been bailed."

Police officers at Starr's home after his arrest

Starr, who denies any wrongdoing, had said at the weekend he was prepared to speak to officers after becoming publicly linked with the Savile scandal.

Starr appeared with Savile on an episode of BBC show Clunk Click in 1974 alongside Karin Ward, who has since accused him of molesting her.

Ms Ward, who was 14 at the time, was the main interviewee in the ITV documentary which exposed the Savile sex abuse scandal.

Starr denied touching her inappropriately and said he had not appeared on the show.

Karin Ward (L) appeared with Starr on Clunk Click in 1974 (pic: BBC)

His lawyer later issued a statement claiming he had been mistaken and that he was on the show.

Publicist Max Clifford, who represented Starr in the 1980s, told Sky News he had received calls from several celebrities who appeared on TV shows with Savile who were concerned they could be embroiled in the investigation.

He said: "In the 1960s and 1970s just about every major pop star appeared on Top Of The Pops, many of them met Jimmy Savile even if it was just to say hello to.

"Many times Jimmy would come up to different stars often with young girls saying 'will you have a picture taken'.

"Now they're asking 'am I suddenly going to be named because there's a picture of me with Jimmy Savile'.

"The problem is if you're a star, just by having your name mentioned in connection with Jimmy Savile or Gary Glitter, you could be damaged."

Starr's arrest follows that of Gary Glitter, who was questioned at a central London police station on Sunday after being detained at his home in the capital.

The former pop star was later released on bail.

Scotland Yard is leading a national investigation into Savile, who died last year at the age of 84.

He is now believed to have been one of the UK's most prolific abusers, with about 300 possible victims.

The BBC has launched an inquiry into the culture and practises at the corporation in the era of Savile's alleged sexual abuse.

It is also looking at the decision-making process which saw a Newsnight investigation into Savile's activities shelved.

The review, led by Nick Pollard, former head of Sky News, will report back on its findings later this month, it was announced earlier.

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Superstorm Sandy Death Toll Continues To Rise

The death toll from superstorm Sandy has reached more than 90 people as the US Coast Guard halted its search for the captain of a tall ship that sank off the North Carolina coast.

The search for 63-year-old Robin Walbridge - which employed ships, helicopters and planes - was suspended after more than three days of around-the-clock effort.

"Suspending a search and rescue case is one of the hardest decisions we have to make," said Captain Doug Cameron, the chief of incident response for the Coast Guard 5th District.

Mr Walbridge was the captain of three-masted tall ship HMS Bounty, which sank before dawn on Monday in hurricane-churned waters about 90 miles off Cape Hatteras.

HMS Bounty Captain Robin Walbridge

The crew abandoned ship in two life rafts, and the Coast Guard rescued 14 crew members.

Claudene Christian, 42, was among those rescued, but she later died.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Walbridge and Christian families," Capt Cameron said.

The rising death toll comes as cities across the US East Coast continue their recovery efforts in the wake of the storm.

New Jersey officials say they will deploy military trucks to serve as polling places on Election Day in storm-battered communities, and are also extending the deadline for mail-in ballots.

The trucks will be parked at polling places that do not have power.

The deadline for when clerks may accept mail-in ballot applications was extended until the close of business on Friday.

More than 4.6 million homes and businesses remain without electricity - down from a peak of 8.5 million.

The total damage in the US from superstorm Sandy could run as high as $50bn, according to the forecasting firm Eqecat.

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Two Men Arrested Over NI Prison Officer Murder

Two men are being held by police in connection with the murder of prison officer David Black in Northern Ireland - one of them a well-known republican.

Colin Duffy, 44, and another man, aged 31, were arrested in the Lurgan area early this morning and have been taken to Antrim Serious Crime suite for questioning, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said.

Mr Black, 52, was gunned down on the M1 motorway early on Thursday as he drove to work at the top security Maghaberry jail near Lisburn, County Antrim.

The father-of-two's car veered off the road and into a drainage ditch after the shots were fired. He was on a stretch of the motorway between Portadown and Lurgan - a dissident republican stronghold in County Armagh.

A Toyota Camry used in the attack was later found burned out in the Inglewood area of Lurgan.

Police have blamed dissident republicans opposed to the peace process for the ambush. They have been engaged in a long-running campaign against conditions in Maghaberry.

The ambush took place on the M1 motorway

Mr Black, from Cookstown, County Tyrone, had served in the Prison Service for more than 30 years and was considering early retirement.

His wife and children are said to be "absolutely devastated" by the killing.

A long-standing member of the Orange Order, Mr Black was the 30th prison officer to be murdered in Northern Ireland since 1974, although the first for almost 20 years.

He was driving his black Audi A4 when the dark blue Toyota drew up alongside and several shots were fired. Police believe he may have already been dead when his car veered off the road.

All sides in Northern Ireland have condemned the shooting, along with Prime Minister David Cameron.

Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers made a statement in the House of Commons on the matter on Friday.

She offered the Government's "profound sympathies" to Mr Black's family and said the attack "demonstrated the gravity of the threat that dissident groups continue to pose".

Earlier in the day the shooting was discussed at a north-south meeting in Armagh involving Enda Kenny, Taoiseach of the Irish Republic, Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness.

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Sandy: 'Mass Destruction' In Atlantic City

When the people of Atlantic City emerged from wherever they had been sheltering against Superstorm Sandy, there was only thing they wanted to see.

A stretch of the city's iconic boardwalk, ripped up and thrown inland, has become a nationwide symbol of the devastating impact of nature's assault on the New Jersey shore.

Ever since, locals have been stopping by: Simply to stare in wonder, or pick through what remains of the demolished boardwalk and abandoned buildings knocked over by Sandy.

The beach is littered with all kinds of debris: Massive chunks of timber, long buried maritime metal work, bits of brick wall, even local newspapers from as far back as 1974.

The site, at the end of Atlantic Avenue, has become something of a tourist attraction.

John Paxton outside his storm damaged home in Atlantic City

John Paxton, a lifelong resident of Atlantic City, said: "This is the first time I have been down to see it.  It is devastating, it looks like a bombed-out area.

"It is the first time I've seen mass destruction like this."

Like many, the 75-year-old ignored evacuation warnings. He saw out Sandy in a house which stands alone on a patch of waste ground four blocks from the beach.

He showed us how three feet of flood water had even left the food drawers in the bottom of his fridge filled with foul water. His home of 57 years is now caked in mud and sludge.

He said: "When I saw the road outside had become a river, there was nothing else to do. I went to bed."

Atlantic City has now begun a massive clean-up operation and almost every street is dotted with piles of damp or destroyed furniture and carpets.

A woman walks past storm damage in Atlantic City

Close to the bay, Kathleen Fitzgerald was dragging plastic rubbish bags full of soaking home goods out on to the pavement.

She says this is the first time that the city has been hit badly by a hurricane-like storm after several warnings came to nothing over the years.

"In a way we were lucky," she said. "As far as my family and all my neighbours, no loss of life, no injuries, so everyone did good."

Red Cross volunteers in the city say even those who prepared well for the storm are now running low on resources.

Catherine Barde said: "This has been incredibly difficult for the residents of this community. It is so completely devastating."

But she says that community spirit has helped: "Everyone comes together at a time like this."

It is perhaps a sign of the scale of Sandy that even Atlantic City's famed casinos were forced to close, at a cost of $5 million a day.

They will re-open and the city will re-build with the spirit demonstrated by residents like Shelley Grossman.

When the storm hit her apartment block, she said, residents retired to a safe room: "We were playing bingo during the height of the storm, it was like being on the Titanic, the music playing as the ship was going down.

"But it kept us all calm."

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Superstorm Sandy: Thousands Stranded In Floods

Millions of people are still without power and tens of thousands are stranded in their properties due to flooding three days after superstorm Sandy battered the US East Coast and killed at least 72 people.

Nearly 20,000 people have been trapped at home in the New Jersey city of Hoboken, just across the river from New York City, amid accusations that officials were slow to deliver food and water.

One man blew up an air mattress and floated to City Hall, demanding to know why supplies had not reached residents - at least a quarter of homes there are flooded and 90% do not have power.

National Guard troops have arrived in Hoboken to help evacuate stranded people.

In total, about six million homes and businesses remain without power, mostly in New York and New Jersey - while miles of coastline, including Atlantic City, was ripped apart by the storm.

Residents in the flooded city of Hoboken

As the region struggles to recover, a clean-up operation in that state has begun while New York City has taken the first tentative steps to getting back to some form of normality as it re-opens some unaffected parts of the subway system - which suffered the worst damage in its 108-year history.

Two of the region's main airports, John F Kennedy and Newark Liberty, have also opened and officials promised the third, LaGuardia Airport, would be operational today.

Broadway shows have resumed and people packed on to buses that returned for the first time to city streets since the storm.

Electricity outages continue as far west as Wisconsin in the Midwest and as far south as the Carolinas.

Flood-damaged food is removed from New York shops

The superstorm, which also hit parts of Canada, came ashore over a thousand miles of coastline to engulf 20 states. It is now winding down and its remnants have been felt in the Appalachian mountains.

Sandy brought up to 3ft of snow to parts of West Virginia and Maryland and several more inches are possible before it dies out for good later this week.

Restoring the usually vibrant New York City to its ordinarily frenetic pace could take days, while rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks could take considerably longer.

Power company Consolidated Edison says it could be the weekend before power is restored to Manhattan and Brooklyn, perhaps longer for other New York boroughs and the New York suburbs.

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

Part of a home rests upside-down in Seaside Heights, New Jersey

Forecasting firm IHS Global Insight predicted it would cause $20bn in damage and $10bn to $30bn in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15bn.

Amtrak said the amount of water in train tunnels under the Hudson and East rivers was unprecedented, but it said it planned to restore some service on Friday to and from New York City.

Speaking on Wednesday, US President Barack Obama told New Jersey residents that the government will support them "for the long haul".

The region took the brunt of its impact and is among the worst affected areas on the East Coast.

The bill for Sandy could top $20bn

Joined by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Mr Obama -  who described the disaster as "heartbreaking for the nation"  - inspected the impact from Sandy, flying high over flooded neighbourhoods and sand-strewn streets.

He told those affected by the storm: "Our hearts go out to the families who have lost loved ones. Their world has been torn apart ... they are in our thoughts and prayers.

"For those like the people I have had a chance to meet on this block, throughout New Jersey and throughout the region whose lives have been upended, my second message is: We are here for you, and we will not forget, we will follow up to make sure that you get all the help that you need until you've rebuilt."

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Prison Officer Shot Dead On Motorway In NI

A prison officer has been shot dead when he was ambushed on a motorway on his way to work in Northern Ireland.

He was ambushed on a stretch of the M1 between Portadown and Lurgan, County Armagh.

One unconfirmed report claimed a gunman opened up when another car pulled up alongside.

It is understood the officer's car careered off the road when he was fired on and he died later.

Paul Girvan, a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) member of the Northern Ireland Assembly, said the man was on his way to begin duty at the top-security Maghaberry Prison, near Lisburn, Co Antrim, where dissident republicans have been involved in long-running protests against jail conditions.

Jeffrey Donaldson, MP for Lagan Valley, said: "This is a terrible tragedy. Once again, a small minority are trying to drag us back to the dark days."

A car suspected of being linked to the attack was later found burnt-out at Lurgan, where dissident republicans have considerable support.

The shooting happened at around 7.30am, at the same time as a major security alert further along the motorway at a shopping centre at Sprucefield, near Lisburn, where bomb disposal experts were called in to check a car.

It is believed this vehicle might have been linked in some way to the shooting, according to some sources.

The attack came the day after Northern Ireland Secretary Theresa Villiers warned that the threat from dissident republicans in Northern Ireland remained severe.

Only a week ago the threat of attack in Great Britain was downgraded to moderate.

Sinn Fein Assembly member John O'Dowd said the shooting was "totally wrong".

"There is no justification for continued conflict in this society," he said.

Mr O'Dowd insisted the extremists would not be allowed to take the region backwards.

"We, as a society, have decided we want to move beyond them. The road they are on is not going to achieve anything."

The man is the 30th prison officer killed in Northern Ireland since 1974.

The dissident protests in Maghaberry have taken place at a time when the NI Prison Service is undergoing a turbulent programme of reform.

The shooting represents a major blow for recently-appointed director general Sue McAllister, 51, from South Yorkshire, who took over the reins of the organisation earlier this summer.

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Sandy: New Jersey In No Mood For Politics

It was an eerie feeling driving out to New Jersey, no power, no lights - save those flashing on emergency vehicles.

A large area of the state is without electricity and will probably remain so for days. Three neighbouring towns are under water.

The drive into this flood-ravaged part of the state was equally strange. Empty roads, still being battered by winds and rain, black smoke drifting across the highway, the skyline of lower Manhattan on the horizon, without power.

The only lights we saw were on warning signs, declaring tunnels closed, one spelling out the situation here: "State of emergency."

Outside a New Jersey school we found scenes you do not expect to witness in America.

Military trucks were bringing in storm refugees in a steady stream, young and old clutching precious belongings and pets.

Like the Leo family from Little Ferry down the road. Grandma Adele Leo told me she had lost everything. She lives in the basement - and her 10-year old granddaughter Amanda had raised the alarm as the flood waters rose.

Her father, Mike, said the situation had been nerve-wracking then ran out of words, the strain clearly showing. He had brought his family to safety but they now face days of uncertainty, unclear when they will be allowed to return.

A woman cries on the shoulder of an emergency responder in Little Ferry

In a converted basketball court, hundreds were preparing to spend the night - their conduct a credit to that famous New Jersey spirit. They looked tense and worried but not a voice was raised.

Police lieutenant Dwane Razzetti said most of his officers had worked almost 48 hours but were still going.

The storm, he said, had exceeded even the worst case scenarios dreamed up by hydrological experts before Sandy struck.

The disaster here was caused by a levee being overwhelmed and that has not happened for almost a century.

The National Guard and emergency services used high-axle trucks and boats to ferry victims to safety. The evacuation has seen a total of 3,000 people leave their homes.

Many of the worst-affected live in trailer parks. Most have heeded the warnings and headed for better shelter.

Not Raymond Neilsen. Crime was a bigger worry than the weather, he told me, but he conceded the last 24 hours had been the worst conditions he had seen in all his 69 years.

President Barack Obama is visiting New Jersey. He says he will not be campaigning, which is just as well. No one we met was in the mood for politics.

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Sandy 'Heartbreaking For The Nation'

President Barack Obama is due to visit New Jersey to survey some of the widespread devastation caused by superstorm Sandy in eastern US and Canada.

With at least 50 people killed - most by falling trees - and millions affected by the high winds, power cuts and flooding, Mr Obama cancelled campaign appearances in key state Ohio to oversee the government response.

He described the disaster at "heartbreaking for the nation".

The President is fighting a close race with Republican rival Mitt Romney and the White House has been keen to portray him as a strong leader ahead of election day on November 6.

More than eight million homes have been left without electricity by the biggest storm to hit the country in generations, which swamped parts of New York's subways system and Lower Manhattan's financial district.

Darkness continued to envelope a large stretch of the Manhattan skyline

Much of the Manhattan skyline was still in darkness on Tuesday night and it is feared it could be days before electricity is restored to some of those cut off.

Forecasters predict the storm could end up causing around $20bn (£12bn) worth of damages in the US.

Sky News weather presenter Nazaneen Ghaffar said the bad weather will continue.

"The storm is still reacting with cold air from the west, so there will be further heavy snowfall as well as inland flooding," she said.

"Rainfall totals could reach around 6-8 inches, and winds will remain gale force in strength.

"The forecast suggests that the centre of the low will move northwards from western Pennsylvania into the west of New York and then into Quebec by Thursday."

Businesses and homes along New Jersey's shore were wrecked and communities were submerged under floodwater across a large area on Tuesday.

Flood water from Sandy surrounds homes in South Bethany, Delaware

After seeing pictures of the shore, State Governor Chris Christie said: "The devastation is unthinkable."

A strong supporter of fellow Republican Mr Romney, Mr Christie also praised Mr Obama's federal response to the disaster.

Amid the despair, talk of recovery was already beginning.

"It's heartbreaking after being here 37 years," Barry Prezioso of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, said as he returned to his house in the coastal community to survey the damage.

"You see your home demolished like this, it's tough. But nobody got hurt and the upstairs is still livable, so we can still live upstairs and clean this out. I'm sure there's people that had worse. I feel kind of lucky."

The storm reached as far inland as Ohio and caused thousands of flight cancellations, while mobile phone network outages also were widespread.

Meanwhile, parts of West Virginia were buried under 3ft (1m) of drifting snow from the storm.

Mr Obama has issued federal emergency decrees and declared "major disasters" in both New Jersey and New York.

Speaking during a visit to Red Cross headquarters in Washington, he said: "New Jersey, New York in particular have been pounded by this storm. Connecticut has taken a big hit."

More than 80 homes in New York City's borough of Queens were destroyed in a fire caused by the storm.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who toured the area, said: "To describe it as looking like pictures we've seen of the end of World War Two is not overstating it. The area was completely levelled.

"Chimneys and foundations were all that was left of many of these homes."

Neighbour John Frawley, 57, said: "I stayed up all night. The screams. The fire. It was horrifying."

Hundreds of miles away from Sandy's turbulent centre, winds were churning up the waters of Lake Michigan to near record levels.

Officials in Chicago warned people to stay away from the lakefront, and parts of the bicycle path along the shore was closed.

The strong wind and rain has had other unexpected consequences.

Police in New Haven said a skeleton was revealed beneath the town green that may have been there since Colonial times.

Police spokesman David Hartman said a woman was with other bystanders looking at a fallen oak tree, and spotted bones in the upturned roots.

Hurricane Sandy - which was reclassified as a post-tropical storm upon making US landfall - had already killed 69 people in the Caribbean.

Many islands were ravaged by the storm, with an estimated $16.5m (£10.3m) worth of damage in Jamaica and 70% of crops destroyed in southern Haiti.

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Sandy: Man Drowned While Rescuing His Family

An off-duty police officer drowned in his basement while rescuing his family from superstorm Sandy.

Police confirmed the circumstances surrounding his death, as more details begin to emerge of how at least 50 people were killed across the US and Canada.

The unnamed police officer is reported to have helped his father, girlfriend and baby into the attic of their home on the southern end of Staten Island, New York.

He then went downstairs and never returned. Fellow officers found him in the basement at about 5am on Tuesday.

"Somehow he got trapped in his basement and he drowned in the basement," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said.

Falling trees have proved particularly deadly

The number of deaths could rise further, with two boys aged two and four listed as missing nearly 24 hours after they got separated from their mother after her car became submerged on Staten Island.

New York was the worst-hit city in the US. In Queens, a 23-year-old woman was electrocuted after stepping on a live wire while taking photographs of a power line that had caught fire.

"She couldn't move. She didn't have a chance," said neighbour Renny Bhagretta, 44.

In Brooklyn, a teacher and student were crushed in the street by giant trees that came crashing down during the height of the storm.

Their bodies were discovered the next morning.

A 75-year-old Manhattan woman was reported to have died after her oxygen machine lost power.

Her grandson ran to nearby Bellevue Hospital for a manually operated tank, but the woman had already gone into cardiac arrest by the time paramedics arrived.

A 13-year-old girl was found dead under a pile of debris in the Tottenville area of Staten Island where four beach front homes were washed away.

Her mother, a church worker, was critically injured and her father, a plumber, was missing, neighbours said.

"They wanted to stay. We tried to convince them to leave. They said they didn't think it would be that bad," said neighbour John Alleva, 47.

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HMS Bounty Sinks: Rescued Crew Member Dies

A woman rescued from the Atlantic Ocean hours after the HMS Bounty was caught by Hurricane Sandy has died.

Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water on Monday - hours after the historic ship went down in the storm off the coast of North Carolina - but was unresponsive.

Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class David Weydert said Ms Christian, who lived and sailed on the ship, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but was later pronounced dead.

The Coast Guard is still searching for the ship's captain, Robin Walbridge, 63.

The famous HMS Bounty was hit by 18ft waves

Ms Christian, a keen sailor, said on Twitter that she joined the ship's crew in May and a series of posts described how much she was enjoying her life on the sea.

On June 7, she wrote: "So I had a tough day, lost in the sails. But it was sunny warm and I am on a TALL SHIP AT SEA. It's a "Bountyful" life."

Fourteen other crew members were rescued from the stricken vessel, which was about 160 miles from the hurricane's centre.

The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship at about 5am on Monday after the vessel lost power and started to take on water.

Sixteen people were on board the ship when it sank

Coast guards said the crew had put on cold water survival suits and life-jackets before launching in two 25-man lifeboats with canopies.

The suits are designed to protect people from the cold waters for up to 15 hours.

Rescuers faced 40mph winds and 18ft waves at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three-mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

The rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment

It regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicating beacon registered to the Bounty.

HMS Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny On The Bounty with Marlon Brando and also appeared in Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.

The original Bounty was known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789.

People could apply to work on the ship, which was built in 1960 and restored in 2001.

The HMS Bounty Organisation said on its website that it was "dedicated to keeping the ship sailing and using her as a vehicle for teaching the nearly lost arts of square rigged sailing and seamanship."

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Breast Cancer: Thousands Are Over-Diagnosed

By Thomas Moore, Health and Science Correspondent

Almost 4,000 women a year are having treatment for breast cancer they don't need, according to new research.

An independent panel of doctors called in to assess the UK's breast screening programmes found some women are diagnosed with tumours that would never cause them any problems in their natural life span.

But the doctors say screening also prevents more than 1,300 deaths a year, underlining the benefits of regular mammograms.

Cancer Research UK, which took part in the review, strongly recommends women turn up for screening.

The charity's chief executive Dr Harpal Kumar said: "Screening remains one of the best ways to spot the very early signs of breast cancer, at a stage when treatment is most likely to be successful."

The review was ordered after European researchers had warned that screening may do more harm than good.

The independent panel trawled through 11 studies involving thousands of women, in the hope of settling the controversy.

According to results published in The Lancet medical journal, for every cancer death prevented three women will be over-diagnosed and may have surgery, chemotherapy or radiotherapy as a result.

National cancer director Professor Sir Mike Richards said leaflets explaining breast screening will be rewritten within four months to reflect the new information.

"We have always said that there are some cancers that can be found that would not have caused problems in a woman's lifetime,"  he said.

"What we can now do is put a number on that, to give an estimate.

"Women can make their individual choices based on good information."

But Dr Deborah Cunningham, clinical director of breast services at Charing Cross Hospital in London, warned that some women could be put off screening.

She told Sky News: "They already have difficult choices to make. This complicates it further. Screening won't work if they don't turn up."

Beverley Angell was diagnosed with breast cancer after a routine screening appointment earlier this summer. She has no doubt that the programme is worthwhile.

"I could not feel the lump and I did not know it was there. It has saved my life."

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New York Storm: Sandy Batters US Eastern Coast

Superstorm Sandy has battered parts of the eastern United States and Canada, flooding major cities and killing at least 16 people.

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, freeing up government funding to help people in the area.

The "post-tropical" storm brought gusts of more than 85mph (135kph) and a record-breaking 13ft surge of seawater in Manhattan, submerging seven subway tunnels and many roads.

At Breezy Point in the New York borough of Queens, 190 firefighters are tackling a huge fire that has destroyed more than 50 homes.

An explosion rocks a flooded New York power plant

New York University hospital was forced to move patients to other hospitals after it lost power and its back-up generator broke down. Among them were 20 babies from neonatal intensive care - some on respirators operating on battery power.

Firefighters said one man had been killed by a falling tree, while two people were also killed when a tree fell onto a vehicle in New Jersey.

Elsewhere in New Jersey a levee has broken, flooding the towns of Moonachie, Little Ferry and Carlstadt with up to five feet of water.

Some 670,000 New York homes have been left without power by the storm, with electricity knocked out to more than six million Americans.

CCTV captures the PATH station in Hoboken, N.J., as it is flooded.

Torrential rains and wind made landfall along the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City at around 8pm EDT (12am UK time).

A total of 15 people have been reported dead by local officials in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, West Virginia and North Carolina, while in Toronto, Canadian police said a woman died after being hit by flying debris.

New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg said the worst of the storm had passed and officials expected the tidal surge to recede by Wednesday.

But thousands of flights have been cancelled at airports in cities up and down the coast, causing widespread travel chaos.

Sea water floods the Ground Zero construction site.

British Airways axed all of its flights to and from New York, Newark, Baltimore, Washington DC, Boston and Philadelphia, and 11 of today's return flights to and from the East Coast have been cancelled.

It had been feared the surge of seawater could damage the underground electrical and communications lines in lower Manhattan that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq suspended trading for a weather event for the first time since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.

Sandy killed 69 people in the Caribbean, where many islands were left devastated by the extreme weather conditions.

The collapsed front wall of an apartment building in New York

Haiti was worst-hit, with 52 confirmed dead and many more still missing. Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe described the storm as a "disaster of major proportions".

Residents of Cuba's second-largest city of Santiago were left without power and running water for four days.

After battering the Caribbean, Sandy then made its way up the Atlantic. As it made its way toward land, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned into a hybrid consisting not only of rain, high wind and snow.

Subways, buses, trains and schools were closed across a region of more than 50 million people from Washington to Boston.

Earlier, a US sailor on board a replica of the HMS Bounty was recovered from the sea in an "unresponsive" condition and later died. The captain was missing, feared dead after the tall ship went down off the Carolinas.

President Obama and Republican rival Mitt Romney suspended their campaigning with just over a week to go before election day.

At the White House, Mr Obama had made a direct appeal to those at risk. "Please listen to what your state and local officials are saying," he said.

"When they tell you to evacuate, you need to evacuate. Don't delay, don't pause, don't question the instructions that are being given, because this is a powerful storm."

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Police Poised For More Savile Case Arrests

By Darren McCaffrey, Sky News Reporter

Police investigating Jimmy Savile are preparing to make fresh arrests - as today marks the anniversary of the TV presenter's death.

Yesterday, former pop star Gary Glitter became the first high-profile arrest under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree, which is looking at child sex abuse allegations against Savile and others.

Police have drawn up a detailed arrest strategy as 30 officers work through 300 claims of abuse.

Today marks one year since Savile's death. At the time he was saluted for his charity work and long TV career.

Gary Glitter was arrested yesterday

Now the depictions of Savile could not be more different, described as a predatory paedophile and one of Britain's most prolific sex offenders.

For many of Savile's victims, including his own great niece, too many turned a blind eye for too long.

Caroline Robinson told Sky News: "The rewards they got from Jimmy Savile's name and everything else kept them in a lifestyle that they became accustomed to.

"I am sure the BBC, if they could have stopped this in the 60s when they first found out about the allegations, I would not be a victim now.

"I would not be sat here. They have wrecked my world apart. They are to blame.

"I think a vast amount of people knew at the BBC, at the NHS and the council.

"I think everybody knew who surrounded themselves with Jimmy Savile."

Today former Court of Appeal judge Dame Janet Smith begins the first of two independent inquiries.

It will focus on whether the culture and practices at the BBC allowed Savile to carry out his abuse.

A further review will examine current sexual harassment policies at the corporation.

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Hurricane Sandy: NY Braces For Superstorm

Rain and wind from Hurricane Sandy have started lashing the northeast of the US, as forecasters warn New York could bear the brunt of the one-of-a-kind superstorm.

Sandy is on a collision course with two other weather systems leading to fears it could develop into one of the worst storms on record in the US.

The superstorm is threatening up to 50 million people on the heavily populated East Coast, and forecasters say it could wreak havoc over 800 miles (1,300km) from the Atlantic coast to the Great Lakes.

Sandy, a Category 1 hurricane, is currently about 380 miles (615km) southeast of New York City, with winds of about 85mph (140kph).

The US National Hurricane Centre (NHC) said Sandy had strengthened as it turned toward the coast and was moving at 15 mph (24 kph).

Key evacuation areas affecting New York City and adjoining areas

It is expected to make its way inland tonight, hitting Atlantic City in New Jersey before crossing through Pennsylvania.

The massive storm, which is hundreds of miles across, is set to stay until at least mid-week, bringing a huge storm surge, hurricane winds, flooding rains and snow in the Appalachian mountains.

Hundreds of thousands of people have already evacuated coastal areas, but much focus remains on New York.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people in low-lying areas of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

Sandbags have been used to thwart flooding in low-lying areas

"If you don't evacuate, you are not only endangering your life, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who are going in to rescue you," he said.

"This is a serious and dangerous storm."

Authorities are warning New York could get hit with an 11ft (3.3-metre) wall of water that could swamp parts of lower Manhattan, flood subway tunnels and cripple the network of electrical and communications lines that are vital to the nation's financial centre.

New York and other cities shut down schools and suspended all train, bus and subway services on Sunday night because of the risk of flooding.

Nearly the entire coastline of Staten Island has been evacuated. Parts of lower Manhattan, like Battery Park and Ground Zero, have also been evacuated amid the threat of flooding.

Police officers monitor Times Square subway station

All US stock markets will be closed on Monday and possibly Tuesday, the operator of the New York Stock Exchange said, reversing an earlier plan that would have kept electronic trading going on Monday.

A state of emergency has already been declared in nine states - including New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

US President Barack Obama has cancelled a planned campaign appearance in Florida and returned to Washington to oversee the federal government's response to the ever-threatening hurricane.

Mr Obama promised the government would "respond big and respond fast" after the storm hits.

"My message to the governors as well as to the mayors is anything they need, we will be there, and we will cut through red tape. We are not going to get bogged down with a lot of rules," he said.

Federal Emergency management administrator Craig Fugate warned the "time for preparing and talking is about over".

The projected storm track passes over New York

"People need to be acting now," he said.

Nearly 100 miles (160 km) off the coast of North Carolina, a replica of the tall ship made famous in the film Munity on the Bounty has been taking on water with 17 people aboard. The US Coast Guard was monitoring the situation early Monday.

Airlines have cancelled more than 7,600 flights, with British Airways, Virgin and American Airlines halting all departures to the United States.

From Heathrow, 28 flights have been cancelled to New York, Washington and Boston.

Sandy was blamed for 66 deaths in the Caribbean before it began travelling northward parallel to the eastern seaboard.

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HMS Bounty Crew Rescued Near Eye Of Hurricane

All 17 crew members have been rescued from the replica of a famous ship that was in distress 160 miles from the eye of Sandy.

Those aboard HMS Bounty were taken to safety via life rafts after helicopters were sent to the location but the ship is still stranded.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a call from the owner of the 180ft, three mast ship, saying she had lost communication with the vessel's crew late on Sunday evening.

An air crew arrived on the scene and regained contact with the ship after receiving a signal from the emergency position indicated beacon registered to the Bounty.

Tracie Simonin a spokesperson for HMS Bounty, which had been heading for Florida, said: "Our main concern was to save the crew members. The ship has been abandoned and now the coast guard will assess whether it can be saved."

There are 40mph winds and 18ft waves reported at the scene, which is 90 miles southeast of Hatteras in North Carolina.

The current Bounty was built for the 1962 movie Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando and has since appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. 

The original Bounty is known for the mutiny that took place in Tahiti in 1789. 

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Syria: Rebel Fighters Are Becoming Radicalised

By Alex Crawford, Sky News Special Correspondent

Sky has seen new evidence that the Syrian uprising is becoming more and more radicalised and being fought by Islamic fundamentalists and extremists.

The Syrian rebels have all but given up on military intervention by the West but after 18 months of grinding battle and a feeling they have been abandoned by the international community, they are making their own bombs and weapons and becoming much more self-sufficient.

There are some weapons and arms being smuggled across the borders from sympathetic Muslim neighbours.

We saw brand new rocket propelled grenade launchers with their rockets still in their plastic wrappers which had been smuggled across the Turkish border and an anti-aircraft gun which the rebels told us had come from Iraq.

But although that means that the rebels have many more weapons than they have had before, it is still small fry in comparison to the heavy weaponry, tanks and artillery employed by the regime.

What is increasingly obvious is the number of Jihad (holy war) flags and Jihad paraphernalia worn and used by the rebel fighters. The black headbands worn by many of the fighters are a symbol of Islamic fundamentalism - used by extremist groups and usually anti-Western.

The common refrain from many of the rebel fighters is that they have been forgotten by the outside world.

A cache of weapons seized by rebel fighters

A number of commanders told us they were disappointed, angry and frustrated by the lack of help from the international community.

One said: "All we get is words, not actions."

I asked him how many fighters were from outside Syria. He replied: "Most of the fighters are Syrians. I would say 90% of the fighters are Syrian. Only a few hundred in the whole of Syria are from outside the country and most of them are from sympathetic countries."

We met a Libyan medic and former rebel in his own country who said he had come to help the rebels in Syria as a fellow Muslim.

He said: "We know what it is like to suffer. I have come to help in the hospital but if I had to pick up a gun and shoot Assad soldiers, of course I would.

"The real problem here is not foreign fighters, not Al Qaeda or any other group but the regime which has done far more damage than any other group."

The rebels have been making significant gains in the north, crushing regime bases and the Assad army has been losing men as well as arms.

But the frustration by the rebels and the inaction by the international community is driving the rebels towards religious extremism.

If Assad falls, the West's lack of help may have lost them a potential ally in the Middle East and even worse, may have created an angry and resentful new enemy.

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Jimmy Savile: Thompson's Office 'Was Warned'

The Jimmy Savile child abuse allegations were flagged up to the office of former BBC boss Mark Thompson at least twice, according to new claims.

The then director-general's office was formally alerted by journalist Miles Goslett in May and by an ITV email in September, The Sunday Times reports.

According to the paper, his aides were told on both occasions that the allegations concerned Savile's alleged abuse of minors on BBC premises.

Mr Thompson, who has since left the BBC and is about to start a job as chief executive of The New York Times, denies he was ever personally informed.

Mr Goslett is said to have spoken to Jessica Cecil, the head of Mr Thompson's office and asked to speak to him about allegations that Savile had molested underage girls on BBC premises.

Ms Cecil told Mr Goslett to speak to the press office and said she did not tell Mr Thompson of the allegations.

A BBC spokesman said: "Jessica Cecil's firm recollection of this brief call is she advised the journalist to put their points to the BBC press office. She then informed the BBC's director of communications about the call."

A spokesman for Mr Thompson said: "Mark was not aware of the conversation between Miles Goslett and Jessica Cecil on May 18, 2012. He was on holiday at the time and this brief conversation was not relayed to him, either then or subsequently."

Hundreds have come forward claiming to be Jimmy Savile's victims

On September 7, ITV is reported to have contacted Mr Thompson's office with detailed questions about its findings based on interviews with 10 victims.

Again, Mr Thompson was not informed.

The former BBC chief has previously said he was neither "notified nor briefed" about details of Newsnight's investigation into the Jim'll Fix It star which was later controversially dropped.

He later told reporters he had "formed the impression it [the Newsnight investigation] was about sex abuse" after a conversation at a party but when he called the news department he was told it had been axed for editorial reasons.

Police have now described Savile, who died in 2011, as a sexual predator who could be one of the worst paedophiles the UK has ever seen.

Hundreds of people have come forward claiming to be his victims. Around 130 have so far been questioned. A further 114 assault claims have been made.

Amid major questions about the culture at the BBC and its decision not to proceed with the Newsnight programme on Savile, the corporation has ordered three inquiries.

The chairman of the BBC Trust, Lord Patten, has said he is dedicated to getting to the bottom of the scandal, vowing there would be "no covering our backs".

He wrote in the Mail on Sunday that the broadcaster "must tell the truth and face up to the truth about itself, however terrible".

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles told Sky News that the BBC should take it as a wake-up call to become more open.

"I think it's in all our interests for the BBC to be held in the highest esteem that it deserves and I think the problem at the heart of the BBC is that the organisation is too secretive," he told Sky's Dermot Murnaghan.

"I think it should think now that it should open itself up to Freedom of Information requests. I think it should look towards publishing a lot of its expenditure online... I don't think it can see itself away from the real world."

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Gary Glitter Arrested By Savile Police

Former pop star Gary Glitter has been arrested as part of a police investigation sparked by sexual abuse claims against the late Jimmy Savile.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, was taken from his central London home by officers early on Sunday morning and is to be questioned at a police station in the capital.

The ex-glam rock star, who had a string of hit singles in the 1970s, is being held on suspicion of sexual offences.

Gadd, 68, was detained by officers working on Operation Yewtree, which is investigating allegations of child sex abuse against Savile and others.

A police spokesman said: "Officers working on Operation Yewtree have arrested a man in his 60s in connection with the investigation.

"The man, from London, was arrested at approximately 0715 on suspicion of sexual offences, and has been taken into custody at a London police station.

"The individual falls under the strand of the investigation we have termed 'Savile and others'."

Gadd served almost three years in jail in Vietnam after being convicted in March 2006 for child abuse offences.

He had moved to Vietnam to avoid media attention into his private life.

Gadd was deported back to the UK in 2008.

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