Syria warplanes hit inside Damascus

A SYRIAN fighter jet has hit targets inside Damascus for the first time on Tuesday, a watchdog says, as air strikes pounded rebel bastions around the country and an air force general was shot dead.

The warplane dropped four bombs on the eastern Damascus neighbourhood of Jobar, near the opposition-held suburb of Zamalka, where rebel fighters were in fierce clashes with regime troops, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Only helicopter gunships had previously been used to strafe areas inside the capital, said the Observatory's director, Rami Abdel Rahman.

An AFP journalist there said the bombing could be heard across the city.

The strike, and more raids around the country, came as state television reported that a Syrian air force general had been assassinated in Damascus.

"As part of their campaign to target national personalities and scientists, armed terrorist groups assassinated Air Force General Abdullah Mahmud al-Khalidi in the Damascus district of Rukn al-Din," state television said, using the regime term for armed rebels. It gave no further details.

The general was a member of the Syrian Air Force command and was shot dead on Monday evening as he left a friend's home, a security source in Damascus told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The regime has intensified air strikes against rebel-held areas in recent days, with more than 60 raids on Monday, the most in a single day so far, the Observatory said.

On Tuesday, air strikes hit rebel bastions around Damascus including the town of Douma, where the Observatory said large numbers of people were killed or wounded.

The northwestern town of Maaret al-Numan, seized by rebels earlier this month, was also hit, with seven civilians killed including four children, it said.

Regime forces have been battling with rebels for weeks for control of the town, which is on a key supply route between Damascus and the northern city of Aleppo.

Tuesday also saw clashes between rebels and troops backed by Palestinian fighters at the Yarmuk Palestinian camp, home to 148,500 people, near Damascus.

Anwar Raja, spokesman for the pro-regime Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, said its forces clashed for about an hour with rebels trying to infiltrate the camp but that there were no casualties.

There are more than 510,000 Palestinian refugees living in Syria, and their leadership is largely supportive of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

At least 36 people, including 22 civilians, were killed in fighting on Tuesday, the Observatory said.

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French official: Arafat to be exhumed

CRIMINAL investigators from France will exhume Yasser Arafat's remains next month to try to find out how the Palestinian leader died, a French official says.

The official said the team from France will arrive sometime between November 24 and November 26 in the West bank city of Ramallah.

Palestinian authorities confirmed the timetable and said a separate Swiss investigative team would also arrive in Ramallah at the same time. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The push to re-examine circumstances surrounding Arafat's November 2004 death came after a Swiss lab recently discovered traces of polonium-210, a deadly radioactive isotope, on clothes said to be his.

The discovery revived suspicions of poisoning.

The immediate cause of Arafat's death was a stroke, but the underlying source of an illness he suffered in his final weeks has never been clear.

Investigators from France and Switzerland will conduct parallel probes into Arafat's death, acting separately on behalf of Arafat's widow Suha Arafat and the Palestinian Authority, who each had misgivings about the other's investigation. Suha Arafat formally asked for a French investigation into his death this summer.

While their probes are separate, the French and the Swiss are to visit the grave together and will only be allowed one chance to draw samples, according to Palestinian officials.

Earlier in October, the Palestinians said the process of digging out Arafat's remains will be conducted privately.

But keeping the event a secret will likely be a challenge since Arafat lies in a giant mausoleum outside government headquarters in a central area of Ramallah.

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New Dutch government ditches 'weed pass'

THE incoming Dutch government has ditched plans for a national "weed pass" that would have been available only to residents and that would have effectively banned tourists from Amsterdam's marijuana cafes.

However, under a provisional governing pact unveiled this week, cities can bar foreigners from weed shops if they choose.

The pact says that it wants only Dutch residents to have access to marijuana cafes, but leaves enforcement up to cities. Amsterdam opposes a ban, which would hurt tourism.

Some cafe owners said on Tuesday that they are satisfied Dutch weed policy will remain unchanged, while others criticised the lack of clarity.

Marijuana trafficking is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but people can't be prosecuted for possession of small amounts and the drug is sold openly in designated "coffee shops."

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London police to sell Scotland Yard HQ

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Bayer to acquire Schiff; reports Q3 rise

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New York devasted by storm horror

NEW York has awoken in shock to a city devastated by deadly superstorm Sandy, which killed at least 10 people and threatened to leave days of chaos in its wake.

A record tidal surge thrown up by the hurricane set off an explosion at a power station, fire destroyed dozens of homes in the Queens district and a major hospital had to evacuate more than 200 patients at the height of the storm.

Subway trains and buses remained suspended for a third day and hundreds of thousands of homes face up to a week without electricity, the power company warned.

The stock exchange in what Americans call the city that never sleeps remained closed for a second day.

At least 10 people were killed but that toll might rise, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The fatalities included a man crushed by a tree in Queens.

Smoke lingered over many streets after a huge fire tore through 50 homes in the Breezy Point district of Queens. Firemen in boats rescued about 25 people trapped by fire. The homes were left a tangled mess of wood and metal.

Breezy Point is near Rockaway Beach, where firemen rescued several people trapped in their homes by a 4.2 metre storm surge. Upturned cars were left strewn across streets near the Rockaway seafront.

A spectacular explosion at a Manhattan electricity sub-station at the peak of the storm cut power to 193,000 homes on the island.

About 300,000 other homes in New York lost electricity as Sandy tore down trees and flooded power transmission facilities.

"Don't be surprised if it takes a week" to get power back, warned Con Edison electricity company spokesman Alfonso Quiroz.

Many roads remained blocked by trees, and road tunnels were inundated by floodwaters that slowly receded after the city was battered. Bridges off Manhattan were only open to emergency services.

Some subway stations had water above platform level and it was expected to be several days before trains were fully operational again.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) president Joseph Lhota said the New York subway "has never faced a disaster as devastating as what we experienced last night."

Police and ambulance sirens dominated the diminished morning traffic. Pedestrians had to avoid trees torn up by the wind gusts of up to 150km/h that hit the city late on Monday.

The streets of Lower Manhattan were pitch black until the sun rose. But the power cuts left giant apartment blocks without elevator service.

"I have no water, no gas. I walked down 20 flights of stairs to get to street level and now I must try to get to the office," said accountant Joseph Warburton as he headed for Midtown along Third Avenue.

Tommy Flynn, a 57-year-old photographer, said he was preparing to spend several days at home without electricity. "My girlfriend and I have stocks of water, instant food, batteries, candy and chocolate. And we have nowhere to go," he said.

The roads were strewn with uprooted trees, telephone booths ripped off their foundations and traffic lights blown down with wires left exposed.

Some caretakers bravely started to sweep up the leaves and branches in front of their buildings.

New York University's Tisch hospital had to evacuate more than 200 patients, including about 20 babies, when it was caught in the power cuts and its backup generator failed. Long lines of ambulances were still taking patients away on Tuesday morning.

Safety experts also nervously watched a crane over a 90 story luxury apartment block that buckled in the gale force winds.

The boom of the crane swayed in the fierce gusts over streets near Central Park, which police and fire services evacuated because of the risk that it could fall.

In another spectacular demonstration of its power, the hurricane pulled off the facade of a three-story building in the Chelsea district. No injuries were reported.

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Vivienne Westwood to sell Assange T-shirts

BRITISH fashion designer Vivienne Westwood will from Saturday sell T-shirts in support of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who has been holed up in Ecuador's London embassy for four months.

The unisex T-shirt, featuring Westwood's face and the words I'm Julian Assange, will cost STG40 ($A62.47) with all profits going to Assange's whistle-blowing website, the veteran designer wrote on her blog.

"T-shirts for Julian: you can show your support of a real hero by going to www.viviennewestwood.com," wrote Westwood, 71, who appears on the shirt wearing a denim jacket and a necklace with a skull pendant, with her red hair swept back.

Australian-born Assange, 41, walked into the embassy on June 19 and claimed asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over allegations of rape and sexual assault.

Ecuador granted him asylum on August 16 but Britain has refused him safe passage out of the country, leaving Assange in the embassy as the two countries struggle to resolve a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange denies the allegations of sex crimes and claims he could eventually be passed to the United States if he is extradited to Sweden. WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by publishing a flood of classified US documents.

Flamboyant Westwood, a long-standing supporter of Assange, was pictured wearing the new T-shirt as she paid the WikiLeaks founder a visit last Tuesday.

US pop star Lady Gaga also went to see him earlier this month.

AFP a

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Astronauts see superstorm Sandy from space

THE superstorm that's ravaging the US East Coast is enormous, even when seen from space.

The commander of the International Space Station, Sunita Williams, said on Tuesday that she and her crew were able to make out the big swirl at the center of Sandy as it neared land Monday.

Her family lives in New England, and she's keeping a special watch over what's happening in the region.

As for the other big news - the US presidential election - Williams and the other American on board, Kevin Ford, already have cast their votes. The two filed absentee ballots before rocketing into orbit from Kazakhstan. Ford arrived at the space station last week.

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