Expenses: Police Unable To Use MacShane Letters

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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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 attorney.

"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 Defense 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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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.

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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Royal Cop Accidentally Fires Gun In Car

A policeman guarding the home of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in North Wales is under investigation after he accidentally fired his gun while sitting inside a car.

Nobody was injured when the officer, who was sitting in the vehicle with another policeman, let off the shot while on duty in North Wales last week.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "Shortly before 1pm on Wednesday October 24 an on-duty MPS police officer unintentionally discharged a firearm while in an unmarked police vehicle.

"The round damaged the floor of the vehicle. Another on-duty officer was in the vehicle at the time of the incident. Neither officer was injured.

"The officers were on duty in North Wales at the time."

Both the officers are attached to Specialist Operations.

The Met spokesman said its Directorate of Professional Standards has been informed of the incident and the officer concerned has been removed from firearms duty pending the outcome of inquiries.

Prince William, or Flight Lieutenant Wales as he is known in his capacity as an RAF search and rescue helicopter pilot, captains Sea King helicopters from his unit's base at RAF Valley in North Wales.

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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 Death Toll Continues To Rise

Sandy Chaos In Atlantic City

Updated: 5:49am UK, Thursday 01 November 2012

By Greg Milam, US Correspondent

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, 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.

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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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. Her 10-year old granddaughter Amanda had raised the alarm last night 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. A total of 3,000 people have been evacuated

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, he told me, than the weather 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: Obama To Visit Storm-Hit US East Coast

New Jersey In No Mood For Politics

Updated: 6:10am UK, Wednesday 31 October 2012

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. Her 10-year old granddaughter Amanda had raised the alarm last night 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.

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. A total of 3,000 people have been evacuated

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, he told me, than the weather 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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Superstorm Sandy Batters US Eastern Coast

Superstorm Sandy has battered parts of the eastern United States, flooding major cities and killing at least 13 people.

The National Hurricane Centre, which reclassified the storm as "post-tropical", said torrential rains and wind made landfall along the New Jersey coast near Atlantic City at around 8pm EDT (12am UK time).

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

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.

The collapsed front wall of an apartment building in New York

Firefighters in New York 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.

A total of 12 people were reported dead by local officials in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and North Carolina, while in Toronto, Canadian police said a woman died after being hit by flying debris.

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

An explosion rocks a flooded New York power plant

Amateur footage captured a large explosion at a power station near East 14th Street.

Mr 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.

Rain caused by Sandy could last for days

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 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.

Cars in Manhattan were submerged by floodwater

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 Barack 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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HMS Bounty Sinks: Rescued Crew Member Dies

A woman who was pulled fom the Atlantic after abandoning ship in rough weather churned up by Hurricane Sandy has died, the US Coast Guard says.

Claudene Christian, 42, was unresponsive when she was rescued from the water on Monday evening - hours after the HMS Bounty went down in the storm off North Carolina.

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

Ms Christian said on Twitter that she joined the ship's crew in May.

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

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

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

Sixteen people were on board the ship when it sank

The US Coast Guard said the Bounty's crew had donned 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.

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 rescued crew were flown to Air Station Elizabeth City for treatment

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

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Hurricane Sandy: Thousands Flee Before Storm

Authorities have ordered the evacuation of 375,000 people on the east coast of the United States ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg launched the mandatory evacuation and said 72 centres had been set up around the city in schools and community centres.

Key evacuation areas affecting New York City and adjoining areas

The full public transport system has also been shut down and the New York Stock Exchange will only continue with electronic transactions.

"This is a serious and dangerous storm," Mr Bloomberg said.

"If you don't evacuate you are not just putting your own life in danger, you are also endangering the lives of the first responders who may have to come in and rescue you."

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

The New York Stock Exchange announced it would close its trading floor but continue to trade electronically, despite fears from some experts that flooding could knock out the vital underground network of power, phone and high-speed Internet lines.

Officials also postponed today's reopening of the Statue of Liberty, which had been closed for a year for $30m (£22m) in renovations.

The storm is expected to start hitting the area shortly, with the worst weather continuing into Tuesday.

Police officers monitor Times Square subway station

Experts estimate it will affect up to 60 million people in the area, when it meets a winter storm and cold front. The storm surge will be boosted by storm tides from a full moon.

Parts of West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and North Carolina could get 2ft or more of snow in places, meteorologists said.

Experts said the rare hybrid storm will cause havoc over 800 miles, from the Atlantic coast inland to the Great Lakes.

British Airways flights to and from New York's JFK airport, Newark airport in New Jersey, Baltimore airport in Maryland and Boston airport in Massachusetts, have been cancelled.

Virgin Atlantic flights to and from New York, Washington and Boston have also been halted.

British Airways said: "We understand that customers may be disappointed, however their safety is our highest priority. We are offering the option to rebook or receive a refund to those customers whose flights are cancelled."

The projected storm track passes over New York

Virgin Atlantic warned passengers of cancelled flights not to travel to departure airports and advised travellers to check their flight status page for the latest information.

Domestic airlines also moved planes out of airports to avoid damage, and added Sunday flights out of New York and Washington ahead of today's flight cancellations.

All of New York City's state schools have been closed, and the evacuation zone includes parts of Coney Island, Manhattan Beach and other areas along the east river in Brooklyn.

Stretches of the lower east side, Staten Island and Manhattan are also included in the danger zone and President Barack Obama said authorities needed to take Sandy "seriously" and advised residents to listen to state officials for guidance.

Some said the huge storm was a sign

"We don't yet know where it's going to hit, where we're going to see the biggest impacts. And that's exactly why it's so important for us to respond big and respond fast as local information starts coming in," Mr Obama said.

"My main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously.

"The federal government is working effectively with the state and local governments. It's going to be very important that populations in all the impacted states take this seriously, listen to your state and local elected officials."

Boarded up homes in the path of the storm

US rail operator Amtrak began cancelling train services on Saturday night, including services between Washington and New York.

Hurricane Sandy is heading north from the Caribbean, where it has killed 65 people.

The majority of the deaths happened in Haiti and the area around the capital Port-au-Prince, which holds most of the 370,000 Haitians who are still living in flimsy shelters as a result of the devastating 2010 earthquake.

Officials in Haiti said 51 people have died there although the number is expected to rise.

The US National Hurricane Centre said that the storm has top sustained winds of 75 mph, with higher gusts. It is moving toward the northeast at 14mph, with hurricane-force winds extend up to 175 miles from the epicentre.

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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 his death.

Yesterday, former pop star Gary Glitter became the first high-profile arrest under Scotland Yard's Operation Yewtree.

He may be one of many. Police have drawn up a detailed arrest strategy as 30 officers work through some 300 allegations 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 couldn't 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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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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Hurricane Sandy: 60 Million People Warned

Hurricane Sandy is expected to affect up to 60 million people in the US when it meets two other powerful winter storms.

The threat has prompted President Barack Obama to cancel campaign events to monitor the storm from the White House.

The hurricane is continuing to head north from the Caribbean - where it has killed at least 43 people - to threaten the eastern US with sheets of rain, high winds and heavy snow.

Officials warned millions in coastal areas to get out of the way.

Experts said that no matter how strong it is when it hits land, the rare hybrid, monster storm - dubbed "Frankenstorm"-  will cause havoc over 800 miles (1,300kms) from the East Coast to the Great Lakes.

"This is not a coastal threat alone," said Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. "This is a very large area."

Residents have boarded up their homes in New Jersey

Climate expert Andrew Freedman said: "This could get very bad actually.

"This could approach unprecedented or record levels of storm surge for parts of New Jersey, New York City, Connecticut, up into southern New England especially. We're pretty worried about the amount of water that's going to come in from the ocean."

Sandy weakened briefly to a tropical storm early on Saturday but was soon back up to Category One hurricane strength, packing 75mph (120kph) winds about 335 miles (539km) southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, on Sunday.

Experts said the storm is most likely to hit the southern New Jersey coastline by late Monday or early Tuesday.

Governors from North Carolina, where heavy rain was expected on Sunday, to Connecticut have declared states of emergency, while Delaware has ordered mandatory evacuations of coastal communities.

Massachusetts was forecast to feel the hurricane's effects as early as Sunday evening and the peak of the storm's forces on Monday afternoon.

President Obama has cancelled some campaigning appearances

New York was considering shutting down the subways to avoid flooding. Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned New Yorkers of the dangers of Hurricane Sandy, but stopped short of ordering any evacuations.

"This is a dangerous storm and I think we're going to be OK but if it were to strengthen unexpectedly or change its expected path, it could do a lot of damage and you could be at risk," he said.

Half a dozen states have warned residents to prepare for several days of lost power.

It is feared that the presidential election could be affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The White House said the President was cancelling campaign appearances in Northern Virginia on Monday and Colorado on Tuesday so he can monitor Hurricane Sandy.

The President has directed his team to work to bring all available resources needed by state and local governments preparing for the storm, which could affect a third of the country with high winds, heavy rains and flooding.

A satellite image of Sandy off the US east coast

The storm's trajectory also caused Mitt Romney to cancel an event on Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Sunday.

The category one storm could cause further late changes to the candidates' campaign schedules and any resulting flooding and power cuts could make it hard for voters to get to the polls.

Meanwhile, airlines have told passengers to expect cancellations and have waived change fees for those who wanted to reschedule their trips.

The US National Weather Service said Sandy, after it hits the coast, is expected to merge with two winter weather systems near New York or New Jersey as it moves inland.

That combination may create a rare hybrid monster storm that could bring nearly one foot of rain, high winds and up to two feet of snow to the nation's most heavily populated corridor.

Experts said the storm could be wider and stronger than Hurricane Irene, which caused more than $15bn (£9.3bn) in damage when it struck in August 2011, and could rival the worst East Coast storm on record.

Members of a Joint Base in New Jersey prepare sandbags

"It's looking like a very serious storm that could be historic," said Jeff Masters, meteorology director of the forecasting service Weather Underground.

James Franklin, forecast chief for the National Hurricane Centre, added: "It's going to be a long-lasting event, two to three days of impact for a lot of people."

Electric utilities were taking no chances, lining up extra crews and tree-trimmers.

Trees that still have their leaves could be weighed down by snow and topple onto power lines, or strong winds could knock trees and lines down.

Some observers have compared Sandy to the so-called Perfect Storm that struck off the coast of New England in 1991, but that one hit a far less populated area.

"The Perfect Storm only did $200m (£124m) of damage and I'm thinking a billion" this time, the Weather Underground's Masters said.

"Yeah, it will be worse."

Earlier in the week Sandy killed more than 40 people in the Caribbean, wrecked homes and knocked down trees and power lines.

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