US job creation stronger in October
The US economy added a better-than-expected 204,000 jobs in October, according to the latest figures from the Labor Department.
There had been fears that the 16-day shutdown of government services last month could have hit jobs growth.
The monthly non-farm payroll figure is taken as a key indicator of the health of the world's biggest economy.
However, the latest figures also showed that the unemployment rate edged up to 7.3% from 7.2% in September.
The Labor Department said that this was likely to be because many federal workers were counted as unemployed during the shutdown.
The report also said that employers added 60,000 more jobs in September and August than earlier estimates had suggested.
The latest figures add to a positive week for US economic data.
On Thursday, it was announced that the US economy grew at a better-than-expected annual pace of 2.8% in the third quarter.
Investors are watching closely the health of the US economy, with signs of growing strength likely to raise expectations that the US Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its massive economic stimulus programme.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at the researchers Markit, said that the jobs figure had "defied" expectations of a slump in jobs creation due to the shutdown.
"Analysts were expecting a mere 125,000 rise," he said.
"The data will add to the view that the Federal Reserve is gearing towards a tapering of its asset purchases, but policymakers will most likely wait for clearer signs that the economy is capable of growing at a faster rate than seen in recent months, hoping to see a pace of economic growth that will eat into unemployment."
In Thursday's GDP figure, the Commerce Department said that growth had been lifted by rising exports and a pick-up in construction of homes.
However, it also said that the pace of growth in consumer spending - which accounts for about two-thirds of US economic activity - had slowed from the previous quarter.
Mr Williamson said: "The jobs report follows yesterday's GDP numbers, and together the data suggest that the US economy continues to expand at a reasonable pace, but that the underlying rate of expansion has cooled since earlier in the year, when policymakers began talking in earnest about scaling back monetary stimulus."
US seeks $864m from Bank of America in mortgage trial
The US government has said it is seeking $864m (£540m) in compensation from Bank of America for losses over home loans sold to it by the bank's Countrywide Financial unit.
US attorney Preet Bharara made the request in documents filed late Friday in New York.
The bank was found liable for defrauding two US state-backed mortgage companies by a federal jury last month.
Countrywide was acquired by Bank of America in 2008.
The ruling was a major win for the US government, which launched the case in the wake of the financial crisis.
Reports last month suggested that US banking giant JP Morgan is set for a record $13bn fine to settle investigations into its mortgage-backed securities.
And Wells Fargo agreed to pay $335m to settle claims it misled investors over mortgage-backed bonds.
The US Department of Justice is investigating at least nine banks over their sales of mortgage-backed securities.
Countrywide was found liable for selling thousands of defective loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The month-long trial focused on a Countrywide programme that was internally called "Hustle" or "high-speed swim lane" which allowed loans to be processed quickly without checking their quality.
The wrongdoing, which mostly took place before Countrywide was acquired, was discovered after a whistleblower filed a lawsuit against the firm.
The US economy witnessed a big boom in its housing market in the lead-up to the 2007-08 global financial crisis.
As house prices continued to rise, many banks looked to cash in on the boom by creating complex financial products that grouped together home loans.
However, a collapse in the housing market saw the value of those investments plummet as the underlying mortgage holders became unable to repay their debts.
This snowballed into the subprime crisis, which hurt investors globally and caused billions of dollars in losses.
Vietnam, China Brace for Typhoon Haiyan
Vietnam and China have rushed to prepare coastal communities for the arrival of a typhoon that devastated parts of the central Philippines.
Weather agencies predicted Typhoon Haiyan would make landfall near northern Vietnam's border with China early Monday, local time.
The U.S. Navy's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said the storm had maximum sustained winds of 139 kilometers an hour near its center late Sunday.
It was expected to weaken as it moved northwest over the Gulf of Tonkin, possibly losing its typhoon status and being downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches land.
Vietnamese authorities evacuated more than 600,000 people from coastal areas to shelters and urged the public to prepare enough food and supplies to last for three days. They also ordered vessels to return to port.
Vietnamese media said the typhoon already had killed at least six people as it brushed past the country's central provinces.
The storm was expected to bring heavy rain to the capital, Hanoi, located in the country's north. All schools in the region were instructed to remain closed on Monday.
Digicel invests in Haiti's leading micro lender
Digicel has invested US$2million in Haiti's largest microfinance institution, Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze, which states that it will use the funds to expand its microcredit and other financial service offerings through its network of 46 full-service branches which cover all 10 departments of Haiti.
Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze announced that it had closed the US$2-million equity investment on Tuesday.
The microfinancier's products and services provide an economic lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Haitians. Digicel's investment will allow for the expansion and creation of products and services that meet the growing and diverse financial services needs of Haitian individuals and small businesses, the company said.
"We deeply admire what Fonkoze has accomplished over almost 20 years in Haiti," said Damian Blackburn, Digicel Group business development director.
"With our knowledge of the Haitian market, strong business experience, and the most advanced mobile network in Haiti, we believe Digicel is in a unique position to support Fonkoze in achieving its poverty-reduction goals," continued Blackburn.
"With this collaboration, we are building on our existing partnership between TchoTcho Mobile and Fonkoze which enables customers to withdraw and deposit funds on their TchoTcho accounts at Fonkoze branches. This latest investment cements our commitment to further developing our partnership and we look forward to the next 20 years as we work together to deliver on Fonkoze's social and commercial objectives," he added.
Matthew Brown, CEO of Sèvis Finansye Fonkoze, said the investment by Digicel is a significant step in the company's effort to increase its capital and expand its much-needed services in Haiti.
Source-Jamaica Observer
China trade data adds to recovery hopes
China's exports and imports rose in October, the latest in a series of figures indicating a recovery.
Exports, a key driver of its growth, rose 5.6% from a year earlier, while imports jumped 7.6%.
This follows data released this month which showed that manufacturing activity in China grew at its fastest pace in 18 months in October.
The numbers come ahead of key meetings of China's Communist Party, with economic reforms set to be discussed.
Known as the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee, the meeting will run from 9 to 12 November, and top leaders are expected to discuss reforming key areas such as the financial sector and state-owned enterprises.
China's economy, the world's second biggest, has shown signs of a pick-up after seeing its growth rate slow in first half of the year.
Its economy grew 7.8% in the July-to-September quarter from a year earlier, up from the 7.5% expansion recorded in the previous three months.
Some analysts said the pick-up had been helped by a recovery in demand from key export markets such as the US.
"Combined with the better export data in Korea and Taiwan, China's export numbers suggest some - although not yet decisive - improvement in global demand momentum," said Louis Kuijs, an economist with Royal Bank of Scotland.
Over the past few months Beijing has also announced stimulus measures aimed at helping exporters and boosting domestic demand.
These include tax breaks for small businesses, reduced fees for exporters and the opening up of railway construction.
Analysts said that domestic consumption in China was likely to pick up in coming months and help boost its overall growth.
Philippine Typhoon Survivors Search for Food & Water
Survivors of a typhoon that slammed the central Philippines on Friday have become increasingly desperate, looting shops and aid convoys in search of food and water.
Authorities said they believe more than 10,000 people were killed on the central islands of Leyte and Samar, where Haiyan became one of the strongest cyclones on record to make landfall anywhere in the world. Many drowned when tsunami-like waves swept through island communities.
After going without food for three days, some residents of Leyte's capital, Tacloban, resorted to ransacking the remains of stores and homes in the devastated city of 200,000 people. Looters also raided delivery vans carrying humanitarian aid. But, other residents lined up peacefully as Philippine soldiers handed out supplies.
Corpses were scattered through debris filled streets and authorities struggled to retrieve them.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino flew into Tacloban on Sunday. He said his government's priority is to deliver relief and medical assistance to survivors, and restore power and communications in isolated areas.
Officials on Samar island said at least 300 people were confirmed dead, with another 2,000 missing.
Iran Won't Give Up Nuclear Rights so says Iran President
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says his country will not give up what it considers its nuclear rights, including uranium enrichment on Iranian soil, in any deal with international negotiators.
Mr. Rouhani spoke to the Iranian parliament - a bastion of conservative hardliners - after his foreign minister and other officials reported progress but no agreement in talks with six world powers that ended in Geneva early Sunday. The negotiations are scheduled to resume next week.
The talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are aimed at persuading Iran to suspend work that could allow it to build nuclear weapons. In exchange, the U.N. would ease some of its sanctions against Iran.
France said it was concerned that a proposed deal would do too little to curb Iran's uranium enrichment or to stop the development of a nuclear reactor capable of producing plutonium.
Israel, which calls Iran's nuclear drive a mortal threat, warned against any deal that would leave some of Iran's nuclear fuel-making capacity intact, while giving Tehran respite from sanctions.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told NBC television Sunday that in the negotiations the United States is "not blind, and I don't think we're stupid." He said the U.S. administration is determined that any deal with Iran "would be a good deal" that will "provide the guarantees that Israel and the rest of the world demand."
Maldives Runoff Election Postponed
The Supreme Court in the Maldives has ordered the postponementof Sunday's planned runoff presidential election, one day after former president Mohamed Nasheed won the first round.
The court made its ruling after a defeated candidate petitioned the court to delay the runoff for his own party's political reasons. The court set the new date as November 16.
Mr. Nasheed, who was forced to resign at gunpoint in 2012, accused the court Sunday of delaying the runoff as part of a ploy to prevent him from returning to power. He also repeated his demand that the current president step down and have the speaker of parliament head a caretaker government to oversee the runoff.
In the third try since September to elect a new president in the Indian Ocean islands, Mr. Nasheed won 47 percent of the vote Saturday. Abdulla Yameen, the half-brother of former strongman Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, won 30 percent with another candidate earning the remaining votes. No candidate got the necessary majority of votes to avoid a runoff.
The delay risks sending the country into a constitutional crisis because the next president is due to be inaugurated on Monday, November 11.
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10,000 Feared Dead in Philippines
Local officials in the Philippines say the death toll in a central province that took the brunt of Typhoon Haiyan could reach as high as 10,000.
Police and provincial officials provided the estimate Sunday after assessing damage in Leyte province where they say the destruction was overwhelming. The regional police chief said most of the deaths resulted from drowning and collapsed buildings.
President Benigno Aquino toured some hart-hit areas Sunday. He said the government's priority is to deliver relief and medical assistance to victims, and restore power and communications in isolated areas.
Philippine Interior Secretary Mar Roxas says it is difficult to describe the extent of damage in Leyte's capital, Tacloban.
"The devastation is - I do not have the words for it. It is really horrific. It is a great human tragedy. There is no power. There is no light."
The Associated Press says Tacloban's city administrator (Tecson Lim) told reporters as many as 400 bodies have been recovered.
Meanwhile, officials in Samar province say at least 300 people are known to have been killed on that island, with another 2,000 missing.
The death toll from some locations in the central Philippines is not yet known as communications have been knocked out by the powerful storm and land access is blocked by fallen trees and massive amounts of debris.
The typhoon roared into the Philippines Friday as one of the most powerful storms on record with winds of 300 kilometers an hour.
It is now in open water churning towards Vietnam where forecasters expect it to make landfall late Sunday or Monday.
Vietnamese authorities have evacuated several hundred thousand people from coastal areas where the storm's outer bands are already causing high winds and rough seas.
U.N. emergency relief coordinator Valerie Amos said a U.N. disaster and assessment team has been deployed to Tacloban.
Separately, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon offered his condolences to the Philippines, saying he was deeply saddened by the "extensive loss of life."
The U.S. is assisting with relief efforts. In a Saturday statement, the Defense Department said the U.S. Pacific Command had been directed to assist in search and rescue operations, and aircraft support.
Also, a U.S. relief team has been deployed to the region. The U.S. Agency for International Development says the team will conduct damage assessments, track conditions and "advise on additional needs."
Typhoon Haiyan weakened after crossing the Philippines but regained some strength as it began moving westward in the South China Sea.
Iranian Nuclear Talks End With No Deal, More Talks Scheduled
Nuclear talks between Iran and major world powers ended early Sunday in Geneva with no deal, but Iran says it is not disappointed.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif told reporters the three days of marathon talks were good and gave all sides something to build on. He says he hopes there can be a deal when the talks resume November 20.
Later Sunday in Tehran, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will not give up what he called its right of uranium enrichment. He told the conservative-dominated parliament that a "red line" that cannot be crossed is Iran's ability to enrich uranium on Iranian soil.
Early Sunday in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told a news conference there is no question that all sides are closer to a deal now than when the talks began. He said diplomacy must be exhausted, but warned that such a window will not stay open indefinitely.
European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton said there was concrete progress but that differences remain. She gave no details.
The talks between Iran and the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany are aimed at persuading Iran to suspend work that could allow it to build nuclear weapons. In exchange, the U.N. would ease some of its crippling sanctions against Iran.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb. Iran insists its nuclear program is strictly for peaceful civilian uses.
No one is saying how close the sides are to a deal, but a Western diplomat is accusing France of complicating the talks.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said Paris is not satisfied with Iran's position and will not be part of what he called a "fool's deal."
He demands that Iran suspend work on its plutonium-producing reactor in the western city of Arak.