Saudi beheads, crucifies 5 Yemenis for murder
“The UN headquarters will be closed at least on Monday because of the threat of the storm,” said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.
On Monday, the UN Security Council was to meet over the issue of women in armed conflicts, while Bolivia’s President Evo Morales intended to present his initiatives that would help solve the global food crisis.
Obama warns of Hurricane Sandy, thousands get evacuated
US President Barack Obama has urged Americans in the path of Hurricane Sandy to take the approaching storm seriously, saying it was a “serious and big storm.” He added the hurricane would be slowly crawling up US’s eastern seaboard and the government would "respond big and respond fast" after it hits.
Obama has met with Federal Emergency Management Officials in Washington to talk about the hurricane’s trajectory and threat it poses to the Mid-Atlantic and New England.
“My main message to everybody involved is that we have to take this seriously,” Mr. Oabama said.
Meanwhile, New York has evacuated 375 thousand people from the area and cancelled over 7,400 flights in East Coast. American stock exchange markets have closed till Tuesday.
Hurricane Sandy can hurt Obama’s campaign
Incumbent President Barack Obama’s campaign has voiced fears that the impending Hurricane Sandy could hurt his re-election chances.
“Obviously we want unfettered access to the polls because we believe that the more people come out, the better we're going to do,” the president’s top advisor David Axelrod said. “So, to the extent that it makes it harder, that’s a source of concern.”
Meteorologists expect Hurricane Sandy to hit the country’s northeast on Monday. It is now gaining speed with the winds blowing at some 120 kilometers per hour. The hurricane can grow even stronger, experts say, as Sandy meets the cyclone moving from the western US.
Governors declared states of emergency in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington DC. Around 60 million people are at risk.
The US presidential election day is slated for November 6.
Hurricane Sandy arrival closes NY Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange announced it will close its trading floor and make transactions only electronically Monday, due to the imminent arrival of Hurricane Sandy.
NYSE Euronext has decided to "suspend physical trading floor operations" and would "trade all NYSE-listed securities on NYSE Arca, the company's fully electronic exchange," a statement said Sunday.
The approaching storm has New York City on high alert, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordering evacuations in some areas and shutting down public transport Monday, including the subway.
Manhattan's Battery Park City near Wall Street is among the at-risk zones under a mandatory evacuation order, with officials urging residents to seek accommodations inland or to shelter in one of more than 70 schools and other buildings serving as emergency shelters.
With the weather expected to worsen rapidly, New York authorities have ordered 1,100 national guard troops into the state, including 200 who will patrol Manhattan streets and 300 in threatened Long Island districts.
Hurricane Sandy was on target to collide with a cold front bearing down from the north, creating what meteorologists have named a "Frankenstorm" which threaten to bring floods, high winds and even heavy snow across many eastern states.
More than 3,000 flights have been canceled in the US as Hurricane Sandy is expected to make landfall on Monday night.
Most of the cancellations are out of Newark, New Jersey.
President Barack Obama has cancelled several campaign events scheduled for Monday and Tuesday as New York is bracing up for the hurricane, which earlier killed 65 people in Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and the Bahamas.
Voice of Russia, Interfax, AFP, RIA
