| First PIA Hajj flight reaches Islamabad Posted: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira welcomed the Hujjaj at Benazir International Airport Islamabad.Talking to the media, Kaira said that all steps have been taken to facilitate the pilgrimages. However, if Hujjaj faced any problem due to government, they would be compensated, he vowed. 
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| No change in CNG prices till court orders: OGRA chief Posted: Talking to the media after a meeting between OGRA officials and All Pakistan CNG Association, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) Chairman Saeed Ahmed said that he would present a new formula of fixing the prices of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) in Supreme Court on Thursday.He said that OGRA not only compiled the order of apex court as soon as it was received but also obey the Supreme Court’s instructions. He stated that the current prices would be retained until the court decision would not come on surface on the new suggestions of OGRA. 
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| Hurricane forces three US reactors shut Posted: Three US nuclear power reactors remained shut down and a fourth on alert Tuesday after Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc with transmission networks and high waters threatened cooling systems.Amid worries that waters could overwhelm the reactors as happened in Japans Fukushima nuclear emergency last year, authorities said there were no risks to the public.New Jerseys main power company PSEG Nuclear shut down its Salem 1 unit at Hancocks Bridge on the Delaware river, saying most of its water circulation pumps had been rendered unusable due to weather impacts.The Nine Mile Point unit 1 in Scriba, New York, and the Indian Point reactor 3 in Buchanan, New York were also halted. Power company Entergy said the Indian Point plant was shut down due to external electrical grid issues.Separately, the countrys oldest nuclear plant, the 43-year-old Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township, New Jersey, was under an alert designation because of high waters in its water intake structure due to the huge storm surge.Nuclear regulators said they had been monitoring all the plants during the storm and that there were no current dangers of meltdowns.Everything appears to be under control at this point. There was no infrastructure damage to any of the plants, Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told AFP.Overall, considering that this was a historic storm, the plants have by and large fared well. We will continue to work to make sure that its safe to bring those units back on line, there are still some great stability issues that well have to work through, he added.Many other nuclear power units continued to work throughout the storm, though some were at reduced levels to adjust to demand changes in the power system and grid outages.Power outages across the northeast left more than eight million people and businesses without electricity Tuesday, with warnings that many would not regain power for several days.The Oyster Creek plant, which was in a scheduled outage when the storm hit, set off an alert when floodwaters exceeded a threshold set for its water intake facilities.The NRC said late Tuesday that water levels were subsiding to more normal levels, reducing the threat. The plant remains in an Alert status until there is enough confidence levels will remain at more normal levels. Offsite power at the plant is in the process of being restored, it said in a statement. 
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| Insured US storm losses $7-15 billion: experts Posted: Insured losses from the massive superstorm Sandy that battered the US East Coast could run between $7 billion and $15 billion, catastrophe modeler AIR Worldwide said Tuesday.AIR said the damages were akin to much more intense hurricanes, because of the gigantic size of Sandy and its collision with another huge front sweeping in from the west, wreaking havoc over a much broader area than other megastorms.AIRs estimates included wind and storm surge damage to onshore residential, commercial and industrial properties and their contents, automobiles and insured losses related to things like business interruption for companies forced to shut down.Sandy, rated only a category one hurricane, was nearly twice the size of the devastating Category 3 Hurricane Katrina of 2005, AIR said.AIR said tropical force winds from Sandy affected an area spanning 950 miles (1,530 kilometers), and hurricane force winds extending 175 miles from its center, much more than other extremely damaging hurricanes.Sandys diameter made it the largest Atlantic hurricane on record in terms of the span of tropical storm-force winds, the company said.The storm affected areas as far north as Toronto and west to the Great Lakes. 
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| SC to resume Karachi unrest verdict case today Posted: A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Anwer Zaheer Jamali, and including Justice Khilji Arif Hussain, Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany, Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Gulzar Ahmed, will resume the hearing of the case at SC’s Karachi Registry branch today.The Home Department will produce to the court a list of culprits released on parole. During the previous hearing, Justice Sarmad Jalal Usmani observed that it was brought to the notice of the court that 300 to 400 criminals involved in heinous crimes, have been released on parole in an arbitrary and discriminatory manner.The court, taking judicial notice over the matter, directed the Home Department to file a statement on how many under trial prisoners or convicted prisoners were released on parole in the last five years. 
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| Sandy's death toll climbs to 48; millions without power Posted: The misery of superstorm Sandys devastation grew Tuesday as millions along the U.S. East Coast faced life without power or mass transit for days, and huge swaths of New York City remained eerily quiet. The U.S. death toll climbed to at least 48, many of the victims killed by falling trees, and rescue work continued.The storm that made landfall in New Jersey on Monday evening with hurricane force cut power to more than 8.2 million across the East and put the presidential campaign on hold just one week before Election Day.New York was among the hardest hit, with its financial heart closed for a second day. The storm caused the worst damage in the 108-year history of the citys subway system, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said it could be four or five days before the biggest U.S. transit system was running again.This was a devastating storm, maybe the worst that we have ever experienced, Bloomberg said. But the full extent of the damage in New Jersey was being revealed as morning arrived. Emergency crews fanned out to rescue hundreds.A hoarse-voiced New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave bleak news at a morning news conference: Seaside rail lines washed away. No safe place on the states barrier islands for him to land. Parts of the coast still under water.It is beyond anything I thought Id ever see, he said. It is a devastating sight right now.The death toll from Sandy in the U.S. included several killed by falling trees. Sandy killed 18 people in New York City. It also killed 69 people in the Caribbean before making its way up the Eastern Seaboard.Airlines canceled more than 15,000 flights. New York Citys three major airports remained closed. Some bridges into the city reopened at midday, but most major tunnels and bridges remained closed, as were schools and Broadway theaters.The storm sent a nearly 14-foot (4.27-meter) surge of seawater, a record, coursing over Lower Manhattans seawalls and highways and into low-lying streets. The water inundated tunnels, subway stations and the electrical system that powers Wall Street and sent hospital patients and tourists scrambling for safety. Skyscrapers swayed and creaked in winds that partially toppled a crane 74 stories above Midtown. A large tanker ship ran aground on the citys Staten Island.Around midday, Sandy was about 120 miles (190 kilometers) east of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, pushing westward with winds of 45 mph (72 kph), and was expected to make a turn into New York State on Tuesday night. Although weakening as it goes, the storm will continue to bring heavy rain and flooding, said Daniel Brown of the National Hurricane Center in Miami. Sandy also brought blizzard conditions to West Virginia and neighboring Appalachian states, with more than 2 feet (0.61 meters) of snow expected in some places.Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and $10 billion to $30 billion more in lost business, making it one of the costliest natural disasters on record in the U.S., according to IHS Global Insight, a forecasting firm.President Barack Obama declared a major disaster in New York and Long Island, making federal funding available to residents of the area. He suspended campaigning for a third day Wednesday, and planned to join Christie in viewing the damage in New Jersey.Obama, speaking during a stop Tuesday at Red Cross headquarters, warned the public that the massive storm that struck the East Coast is not yet over. He said there were still risks of flooding and downed power lines. He called the storm heartbreaking for the nation.The president offered his thoughts and prayers to those affected and told them America is with you. He said he also told government officials coordinating the response that there was no excuse for inaction.And he said he told governors in affected areas that if they get no for an answer, they can call me personally at the White House.Republican challenger Mitt Romney resumed his campaign, but with plans to turn a political rally in Ohio into a storm relief event.Water cascaded into the gaping, unfinished construction pit at the World Trade Center, and the New York Stock Exchange was closed for a second day, the first time that has happened because of weather since the Blizzard of 1888. The NYSE said it will reopen on Wednesday.A fire raged in a neighborhood Tuesday morning in the borough of Queens, near the Atlantic Ocean, with 80 to 100 homes destroyed but no deaths reported.This will be one for the record books, said John Miksad, senior vice president for electric operations at Consolidated Edison, which had more than 670,000 customers without power in and around New York City.In New Jersey, where the superstorm came ashore, Sandy cut off barrier islands, swept houses from their foundations and washed amusement pier rides into the ocean. It also wrecked several boardwalks up and down the coast, tearing away a section of Atlantic Citys world-famous promenade. Atlantic Citys 12 waterfront casinos came through largely unscathed.A huge swell of water swept over the small town of Moonachie, and authorities struggled to rescue about 800 people, some of them living in a trailer park. Police and fire officials used boats to try to reach the stranded.The massive storm reached well into the Midwest with heavy rain and snow. Chicago officials warned residents to stay away from the Lake Michigan shore as the city prepared for winds of up to 60 mph (96 kph) and waves exceeding 24 feet (7.2 meters) well into Wednesday.Curiosity turned to concern overnight as New York City residents watched whole neighborhoods disappear into darkness as power was cut. The World Trade Center site was a glowing ghost near the tip of Lower Manhattan. Residents reported seeing no lights but the strobes of emergency vehicles and the glimpses of flashlights in nearby apartments. Lobbies were flooded, cars floated and people started to worry about food.As Hurricane Sandy closed in on the Northeast, it converged with a cold-weather system that turned it into a monstrous hybrid of rain and high winds even bringing snow in West Virginia and other mountainous areas inland.Just before it made landfall, forecasters stripped Sandy of hurricane status, but the distinction was purely technical, based on its shape and internal temperature. It still packed hurricane-force winds.While the hurricanes 90 mph (144 kph) winds registered as only a Category 1 on a scale of five, it packed astoundingly low barometric pressure, giving it terrific energy to push water inland, said Kerry Emanuel, a professor of meteorology at MIT.New York Universitys Tisch Hospital was forced to evacuate 200 patients after its backup generator failed. NYU Medical Dean Robert Grossman said patients among them 20 babies from the neonatal intensive care unit who were on battery-powered respirators had to be carried down staircases and to dozens of ambulances waiting to take them to other hospitals.A construction crane atop a $1.5 billion luxury high-rise overlooking Central Park collapsed in high winds and dangled precariously. Thousands of people were ordered to leave several nearby buildings as a precaution.Bloomberg told reporters that the storm deaths were tragic but said the city pulled through better than some people expected, considering the magnitude of the storm.The mayor said: We will get through the days ahead by doing what we always do in tough times by standing together, shoulder to shoulder, ready to help a neighbor, comfort a stranger and get the city we love back on its feet. 
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| Palmeiras seeks match annulment Posted: Palmeiras has officially filed a protest with Brazils sports tribunal and requested a rematch because of the referees decision to change his call in Saturdays match. The tribunals decision is expected by next week.Argentina striker Hernan Barcos used his hand to score the 62nd-minute equalizer, but the goal initially stood as neither the referee nor the linesmen or behind-the-net official saw what happened.The referee pointed to the center circle and his linesmen ran there, signaling a goal. Internacional players protested and the referee reversed his decision nearly five minutes later after talking to his assistants.A TV reporter said a match delegate and fourth official asked the media if the replays showed the handball. The reporters comments will be used by Palmeiras, although club directors admit it will be difficult to have the match reversed unless the referee confesses he received outside information.FIFA bans any use of outside interference in the referees decisions during matches.The fourth official later said that he saw the handball himself and was the one who told referee Francisco Carlos Nascimento, using his communication device. But TV images also showed the delegate trying to talk to the match officials.Nascimento said in his match report published by the Brazilian football federation that there was nothing unusual in the game, raising even more protests by Palmeiras.The Brazilian club with the most national titles, Palmeiras is trying to avoid relegation to the second division for the second time in its history. With five rounds left, it is five points from safety.Earlier this year, Nascimento was accused of using replays after he reversed a penalty call during a second-division match. After the ball was already on the spot, the linesman apparently told him that the alleged foul actually happened outside the penalty area.Palmeiras also complained of Barcos being fouled during the contentious play on Saturday. As he tried to reach the ball crossed into the area off a corner, replays showed he was being pulled down by a defender.Of course I touched the ball with my hand and it went in, but it only happened because my arm went up as I was fouled inside the area, Barcos said. Nobody there saw it, they only changed the call after the pressure from Internacional players and from the people on the sidelines.The last time matches were replayed in Brazil was in 2005, when a referee confessed he tried to change the outcome of games because of a betting system he was involved in. Eleven matches had to be replayed, and the new results eventually helped Corinthians win the title.___ 
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| Moscow rally demands release of opposition activists Posted: Participants in Tuesdays rally demanded that authorities free more than a dozen people who are in jail facing accusations over their role in a May protest that turned violent, among other charges.The rally was peaceful.President Vladimir Putin has launched a multi-pronged crackdown on dissent since being inaugurated for a third term in May.He has signed off on several repressive laws and allowed numerous arrests and searches of opposition activists.One of the jailed activists, Leonid Razvozzhayev, said he had been abducted from Ukraine while seeking a political asylum and smuggled into Russia where he was tortured into confessing. 
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| NHS lost 1.8 million patient records in a year Posted: Official statistics showed that at least 1.8 million sensitive papers went missing throughout the health service in just 12 months.Among the breaches included data security records dumped in public bins and electronic records found for sale on an internet auction site.Other security lapses involved details of terminally ill patients being faxed to the wrong number, patient records being stolen and posted on to the internet and unsecured laptops being stolen from homes of staff members.Campaigners today labelled the disclosures as worrying lapses in date protection laws and called for systems across the NHS to be tightened.Officials at the Information Commissioners Office, are asking for new powers to conduct compulsory audits on hospitals and NHS trusts.According to figures compiled from reports of Data Protection Act breaches filed by the ICO over the 12 months from July 2011 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.Over that year a total of 1,779,597 records were reported lost in 16 major incidents involving NHS bodies, the Daily Mail reported.But the real figure is likely to be much higher because in some incidents it was not known exactly how many records were lost. The data protection watchdog also relies on hospitals declaring when data has gone missing.The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, has levied fines totalling almost £1 million on NHS bodies over the past six months, the newspaper reported.Among those fined include Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Foundation (£325,000 over 69,000 patient records) and Belfast Health and Social Care Trust (£225,000 over 100,000 confidential paper records) and Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (£90,000 over 59 records).The worst breach involved a CD containing 1.6 million patient records, including personal details, belonging to Eastern and Coastal Kent PCT.The CD was lost when a filing cabinet went missing during an office move. The trust was not fined, but signed an undertaking with the ICO not to repeat the error.“These figures may be shocking, but they will come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the NHSs track record for dealing with patient data,” Nick Pickles, of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, told the newspaperThere is a real risk that if the NHS doesnt sort out how it looks after patients details people will stop sharing information with their doctor and that could be extremely dangerous for care.An ICO spokesman said: “The Health Service holds some of the most sensitive personal information available, so its vitally important that patients information is being kept secure.” 
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| Eight including cop killed in Karachi violence Posted: On the other hand, the CID have arrested four terrorist and recovered sophisticated from their possession.After Eidul Azha, killing of innocent people has started once again here in the metropolis.In the first incident, political worker Mian Javed has been killed Metrol Site on Tuesday. Another citizen named Saleemullah was killed by unknown miscreants in Nazim Abad.Moreover, a youth was tortured to death in Mango Pir while disfigured bodies of police constable Shuja Hussain from the Civil Hospital and a lady named Mahnoor from near the Airport were found and shifted to hospital for medico-legal formalities.In the same way, unknown miscreants killed Rizwan in Maripur and threw his body on road.On the other hand, the CID police arrested four miscreants of a banned outfit after search operation in Mangopir Sultan Abad and recovered sophisticated weapons out of their possession.In another incident, police also arrested an extortionist who was demanding extortion out of his boss. 
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| Bahrain bans protests amid violence Posted: Bahrain has banned all protests and gatherings amid clashes between police and anti-government demonstrators.Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Al Khalifah said repeated abuse of the rights to freedom of speech and expression could no longer be accepted.Protests would be permitted only once security and stability were sufficient to maintain national unity, he added.Demonstrations were last banned during the three-month state of emergency King Hamad declared in March 2011.The previous month protesters had occupied a prominent landmark in Manama, the now-demolished Pearl Roundabout, demanding more democracy and an end to what they said was discrimination against the majority Shia Muslim community by the Sunni royal family.At least 35 people, including five police officers, were killed, hundreds were injured and thousands jailed in February and March 2011.Since then, opposition and human rights activists say another 45 people have been killed, a figure which the government disputes.In the past two weeks, officials say two policemen have died of injuries sustained during clashes with protesters in villages outside Manama.In a statement announcing the ban on rallies and public gatherings, Sheikh Rashid said the government had strived to protect freedom of expression but the privilege had been abused repeatedly by organisers, with participants showing a lack of commitment to the law.The interior minister said any illegal rally or gathering would be tackled through legal actionsThe protests, which the interior minister said had called for the overthrow of the state and leading national figures, were devoid of respect and intended to humiliate, and therefore jeopardised civil peace and disturbed security and general order. This, he said, could not be accepted. 
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| T4G mobile service launched in UK Posted: London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton will have access to network EEs 4G from Tuesday morning.Other mobile networks will not be able to offer 4G until next year.Critics have questioned the services affordability - particularly with regard to data usage allowance.Belfast, Derby, Hull, Newcastle and Nottingham will be active by Christmas, the company said.Network EE, formerly known as Everything, Everywhere and which owns Orange and T-Mobile in the UK, has promised speeds of between 8 to 12Mbps - up to five times faster than third generation mobile technology, known as 3G.The extra speed and capacity allows for high-quality streaming of audio, video and other content while on the move.The company said as well as giving customers faster internet, 4G would also be of big benefit to businesses.However, such benefits come at a cost - the entry tariff of £36 per month includes 500MB of data, beyond which an add-on cost must be paid if the user wishes to carry on using the internet on their mobile.EE was always going to have a difficult role to play being the first mover”An hour of streaming a programme using, for example, the BBC iPlayer mobile app, can use up to 225MB - almost half the entry level tariffs data allowance limit.The add-on costs for extra data begins at £3 for 50MB, and extends to £20 for 4GB.The companys top tariff for standard customers will cost £56 per month, and has a data allowance of 8GB.EE boss Olaf Swantee has said that the pricing is based on months of consumer research and that the tariffs have been priced at the sweet spot.But Matthew Howett, a regulation analyst at Ovum, said EE has a challenge in convincing consumers their 4G is good value for money.Its fair to say that EE has attracted a fair degree of criticism not so much for the price of the 4G tariffs, but rather on the amount of data bundled at each level, he said.EE was always going to have a difficult role to play being the first mover.However, its peers may be grateful for attempting to move away from an all-you-can-eat world for data to an attempt to monetise it.EE boss Olaf Swantee says his company has hit the sweet spot with their pricingToo quickly data became commoditised for operators once smartphones and other connected devices proliferated. 
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| Huge Iraqi money going abroad illegally Posted: A report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction released on Tuesday says Iraqs top auditor, Abdul-Basit Turki, disclosed the findings about the extent of the alleged money laundering to American officials last month.The finding follows a recent probe by Iraqs Board of Supreme Audit into the countrys central bank and daily auctions it holds to exchange Iraqi dinars for dollars.BSA president Turki was recently named interim head of the central bank after authorities removed the banks longtime governor amid an investigation into alleged financial wrongdoing.BSA spokesman Imad Ismail had no immediate details about the audit. 
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| 130,000 Canada homes sans power due to sandy Posted: One woman was reported killed by flying debris as winds were clocked at more than 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour Monday evening. Police said the woman was struck by a falling sign in Toronto.There were also reports of roof damage as well as considerable tree limbs and other debris littering streets and roadways, and a few toppled trees.More than 90,000 of the power outages were in Ontario province, said utility Hydro One.Neighboring Quebec province also said the storm caused power outages to 43,000 customers, mostly in and around Montreal, Canadas second-largest city. There is significant damage to our distribution system caused by high winds and trees and it will be some time until were able to restore all power, Hydro One vice president Len McMillan said in a statement.According to Canadas Weather Office, the eye of the storm is expected to reach the Great Lakes region on Wednesday before tracking northeastward across Ontario and Quebec, along the Saint Lawrence seaway. 
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| SC orders reinstatement of Hadeed Welfare Trust workers Posted: Hadeed Welfare Trust is a subordinate department of Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM).A division bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and Justice Jawad S Khawaja resumed the hearing of the case against the Sindh High Court’s decision on restoration of Hadeed Welfare Trust’s workers.The court while directing the restoration of the HWT’s employees disposed the case. Earlier, the workers were sacked under the 29 August, 2008 notification.Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry in his remarks said that the PSM is the property of the government it has its own laws and regulations which cannot be ignored. The CJ asked the PSM administration that whether the Educational Institute of PSM is being closed down.The Chief Justice said while removing the employees of PSM is it possible the mill would give any benefit.Justice Jawad S Khawaja said that the HWT is the fragmentation of an imagination of the PSM.The Admin Officer of the PSM told the court that Gardener and Sweeper are being paid more than Rs 8,000 monthly salary. 
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