Main News of October 31

A roundup of what has happened in the past 24 hours

WORLD

* The US East Coast was slowly coming back to life as some airports, bridges, and schools reopened, mass transit systems resumed limited service, power started coming back on and flood waters began to recede in the wake of a devastating Hurricane Sandy that hit the region hard and will require weeks, months or longer for a full recovery

* Russia has asked France to allow the deployment of two Ilyushin Il-38 naval reconnaissance planes at a French base in Djibouti to facilitate its anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said

* The computer system of Latvia’s Defense Ministry has been hacked, Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis said

RUSSIA

* The removal of President Bashar al-Assad from power will do nothing to end the 19-month civil war in Syria but will only escalate the violence, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said

* The new anti-treason bill approved today by Russia’s upper house of parliament has prompted concern from experts, academics and human rights advocates, who say it could be used against almost anyone

BUSINESS

* Chinese listed companies have reported sharp growth in unpaid bills in the third quarter in a clear sign of the impact of China’s slowing economic growth on the country’s corporate sector, The Financial Times reported

* Russian energy giant Gazprom and Hungary have signed a final shareholders’ agreement to build the Hungarian stretch of the South Stream gas pipeline, Gazprom said in a statement