Bishop Tawadros new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians
Bishop Tawadros has been chosen as the new pope of Egypt's Coptic Christians, becoming leader of the largest Christian minority in the Middle East.
His name was selected from a glass bowl by a blindfolded boy at a ceremony in Cairo's St Mark's Cathedral. Three candidates had been shortlisted.
The 60-year-old succeeds Pope Shenouda III, who died in March aged 88.
He succeeds as attacks on Copts are on the increase, and many say they fear the country's new Islamist leaders.
The other two candidates were Bishop Raphael and Father Raphael Ava Mina. They were chosen in a ballot by a council of some 2,400 Church and community officials in October.
'In God's hands'
Their names were written on pieces of paper and put in crystal balls sealed with wax on the church altar.
A blindfolded boy - one of 12 shortlisted children - then drew out the name of Bishop Tawadros, who until now was an aide to the acting leader, Bishop Pachomius.
Bishop Pachomius then took the ballot from the boy's hand and showed it to all those gathered in the cathedral.
Strict measures were in place to make sure there was no foul play during the televised ceremony: the three pieces of paper with candidates' names were all the same size and tied the same way.
Copts say this process ensures the selection is in God's hands.
Bishop Tawadros will be enthroned in a ceremony on 18 November.
The new pope has studied in Britain, and has also run a medicine factory, the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo reports.
BBC
Aung San Suu Kyi Refuses to Take Sides in Burma Ethnic Violence
Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi has urged tolerance in response to a wave of ethnic violence in the west of the country, but says she will not take sides.
In an interview with the BBC Saturday, the Nobel Peace laureate said she does “not think one should use one's moral leadership” to promote a particular cause without looking into the sources of the problem.
She says advocates of both sides are displeased with her, but says the rule of law should be established as a first step before looking into other problems.
Aung San Suu Kyi spoke in the administrative capital of Naypyidaw after talks with European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso, who has said the European Union is deeply concerned about the ethnic violence and the consequences for Burma's reforms.
The U.N. chief in Rangoon, Ashok Nigam, said a week ago that more than 22,000 people had been displaced in a week of violence between Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has said that the fighting has disproportionately targeted Muslims.
Some rights groups say the Burmese military, which has a long history of abusing minorities, unfairly targeted Muslims during the unrest. Burma's government denies the charges.
Egypt’s Coptics Choose New Pope
Egypt's Coptic Christian Church has chosen a new pope.
Bishop Tawadros became the new head the church early Sunday when a blindfolded boy picked his name from a transparent container in a ceremony at Cairo's Coptic Cathedral.
Bishop Tawadros, who is 60 years old, succeeds Pope Shenouda the Third who died in March at the age of 88.
Church activists are expressing hope the new pope's leadership will guide Coptics safely through the uncertainty in Egypt following the country's political revolution that toppled Hosni Mubarak in February.
Christians make up about 10 percent of the population of Egypt, which is mainly Muslim.
Syrian activists say more than 4,500 people died last month.
Libyan officials say a car bomb has exploded near a police station in the country's second largest city, wounding three people.
Authorities say the blast Sunday in the Mediterranean city of Benghazi heavily damaged the front of the police station.
In September, U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died in an attack on the U.S. diplomatic post in Benghazi.
The new Libyan government is struggling to control armed individuals and militias that gained power during an armed conflict that ousted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi last year. Benghazi was the birthplace of the revolt.
France’s Hollande in Beirut to Discuss Syria
The French president is in Lebanon for a short visit to show support for the country amid ongoing violence in neighboring Syria. That violence has spilled across the border into Lebanon, and has been growing worse in recent months.
Francois Hollande arrived in Beirut Sunday where he held talks with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman.
The visit comes two weeks after a car bombing in Beirut that the opposition has blamed on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and demanded Lebanon's prime minister resign, accusing the government of complicity with Damascus.
President Hollande goes to Saudi Arabia later in the day for talks with King Abdullah to discuss Syria.
Meanwhile, in Syria Sunday, state television says an explosion near a hotel in the capital, Damascus, has wounded several people.
The Syrian conflict is entering its 20th month and has caused the deaths of an estimated 36,000 people.
Hundreds of people were killed recently as the government has stepped up airstrikes against rebel-controlled areas.
Beijing Hit by Early Snows
Beijing has issued its second-highest blizzard alert, after the Chinese capital was hit by an unusually early snowstorm.
China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert Sunday, predicting that heavy snow will also hit central and eastern parts of Inner Mongolia and in the northern provinces surrounding Beijing through Tuesday.
The official Xinhua news agency said that by Sunday morning, Beijing had received an average daily precipitation of over 58 millimeters, the highest daily total for any cold season since 1951.
Xinhua said the west of Beijing has received mainly blizzards, while the city's eastern urban areas have been lashed with freezing rain and snow.
To fight the strong cold spell, Beijing has turned on the city's public heating ahead of the official November 15 start date.
The ruling Communist Party begins its 18th congress in Beijing on Thursday. The major political event will appoint new leadership for the next decade.
Apple paid only 2% corporation tax outside US
Apple paid less that 2% corporation tax on its profits outside the US, its filing with US regulators has shown.
Apple paid $713m (£445m) in the year to 29 September on foreign pre-tax profits of $36.8bn (£23.0bn), a rate of 1.9%.
It is the latest company to be identified as paying low rates of overseas tax, following Starbucks, Facebook and Google in recent weeks.
It has not been suggested that any of their tax avoidance schemes are illegal.
All of the companies do pay considerable amounts of other taxes in the UK such as VAT and National Insurance.
Apple's figures for foreign tax appear on page 61 of its form 10k filingwith the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
It had paid a rate of 2.5% the previous year.
Apple channels much of its business in Europe through a subsidiary in the Republic of Ireland, which has lower corporation tax than Britain.
But even Ireland charges 12.5%, compared with Britain's 24%.
Many multinational companies manage to pay substantially below the official corporation tax rates by using tax havens such as Caribbean islands.
US economy adds 171,000 new jobs
The US economy added 171,000 new jobs in October, which was much more than had been expected.
But the official figures from the Labor Department showed that the unemployment rate still rose to 7.9%, having fallen to 7.8% in September, as more workers resumed the search for jobs.
Only people who are currently looking for a job count as unemployed.
Unemployment is one of the key issues ahead of Tuesday's presidential election.
The figures were the last major set of economic data scheduled before the election and the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, has made the state of the jobs market one of the central planks of his campaign.
"Today's increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill," he said.
"The jobless rate is higher than it was when President Obama took office, and there are still 23 million Americans struggling for work."
The number of jobs created in the previous two months was revised upwards, with an extra 34,000 jobs added in September and 50,000 added in August.
We've made real progress," Barack Obama told a crowd in Ohio.
"But we've got more work to do."
Analysts said both candidates could take something from the figures.
"President Obama can point to faster job creation, while Governor Romney can say that the unemployment rate is higher now than in January 2009 when the president took office," said Nigel Gault, chief US economist at IHS Global Insight.
"On balance, the report is better than expected, which should help the incumbent, but not sufficiently so to be a game-changer."
Despite the new jobs, Barack Obama will still go to the polls with the highest rate of unemployment of any president seeking re-election since Franklin D Roosevelt.
The unemployment rate edged up slightly because the number of people looking for jobs increased. These were people who had previously given up hope of finding work, but who now think they may have a better chance. As a result, this increase may be seen as a sign of confidence in the economy, analysts say.
The total workforce, which is the number of people either working or looking for jobs, rose 578,000 in October.
Improved direction
The Labor Department said in its release that Hurricane Sandy, which hit the East Coast of the US on 29 October, had had "no discernible effect" on the employment data.
The number of involuntary part-time workers, who would prefer to be working full-time, fell 269,000 to 8.3 million, having risen by 582,000 in September.
Kathy Jones from Charles Schwab said they were good numbers, but warned that: "We're way short of where we need to be to bring down the unemployment rate to where the Federal Reserve would like to see, closer to 6% than 8%."
"We would need to see twice as many jobs as we're seeing, but the direction has improved."
The average number of jobs added per month so far in 2012 has been 157,000, which is slightly ahead of the average of 153,000 in 2011.
TNT’s John Jeremie criticises PNM’s Clico bailout plan
SINCE at least November 2009, former PNM Attorney General John Jeremie was aware of flaws in two agreements signed by his own PNM administration with CL Financial governing the State’s 2009 bailout.
In particular, Jeremie, who assumed the post of Attorney General in May 2009, criticised the three-year expiry date contained in the June 2009 shareholders’ agreement, which the State signed with CLF after signing a January 2009 Memorandum of Understanding.
Last week, CLF majority shareholders told Newsday they would be willing to entertain extending, for a second time, the deadline for the expiry of the June 2009 agreement. The shareholders are due to hold talks with the Government this week.
But, Jeremie, in a letter dated November 4, 2009, which was addressed to former Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira, queried why the three-year deadline (which expired in June 2012 and was extended to December 12, 2012) was in the agreement in the first place.
“I have only now had an opportunity to study in detail all of the materials that have been presented to me in connection with this matter,” Jeremie said.
“I am significantly concerned about the fact that the shareholders’ agreement terminates in three years, whether or not the situation is fully stabilised or government has been repaid.”
He continued, “Upon the determination of that agreement, under the current facts, shareholders will regain control and will therefore be in a position to control the appointment to the board.
“I note that there is no reference in any other materials as to the reason for the three-year limitation. I would be grateful for further information on this point. It is important to recognise that this limitation emphasises the need to develop and implement plans to secure GORTT’s position and to obtain repayment as quickly as possible.”
The June 12, 2009 agreement was signed some two weeks into Jeremie’s tenure, after he was sworn in on May 29, 2009.
The January 2009 MoU would have been signed when his predecessor, former Attorney General Bridgid Annisette-George, was in office.
In his letter, which has been obtained by Sunday Newsday, Jeremie further recorded, “In the circumstances, it is possible that GORTT will be at risk if its advances are repaid prior to the repayment of creditors. It is unlikely that GORTT will seek repayment in advance of secured creditors, or in circumstances in which to do so would result in instability. “This quandary highlights the prejudicial effect of the three-year limitation on the duration of the SH Agreement. It would therefore be useful to ensure that the recitals in security instruments which are drafted in favour of GORTT are carefully worded to clarify this point.”
Jeremie also complained that the agreements were not specific enough.
“It is not possible to ascertain from the documents provided whether or not full control over the entire CLF group has been obtained by the Government,” he said.
“For instance, it is not possible to ascertain the status of the boards or directors of the shareholders which are not totally controlled by CLF.
“It is unusual that the shareholders’ agreement does not speak specifically to the authority to sell assets in any member of the CLF group. In my view, this creates a potential opportunity for the majority shareholders to argue that the Government, through its nominated board members, has breached the agreement.”
Jeremie also expressed concerns over the structuring of security interests in the CLF group. Despite all these flaws, Jeremie did not recommend a new agreement.
“Government would perhaps be prudent to avoid opening up any re-negotiation at a time when the hand of the majority shareholders is stronger,” he said.
Of the three-year expiry clause, Peter Permell, spokesperson of the Clico Policyholders’ Group, yesterday said, “We are certain many will agree that at first blush this clause does not seem to make sense, and upon further reflection could be seen by a reasonable person to be a case of gross incompetence, negligence or even worse. In fact, it does not seem remotely reasonable for anyone who has the best interest of the taxpayers at heart to have signed off on such a clause, given the billions of dollars involved.”
Chevron concludes sale of fuels marketing and aviation businesses in Caribbean
Chevron has concluded the sale of its fuels marketing and aviation businesses in Jamaica, Dominican Republic and St Maarten to Gulfstream Petroleum, a wholly owned affiliate of GB Group.
GB Group is one of the leading private industrial groups in the Caribbean, with operations concentrated in Haiti and offices in Port-au-Prince, Santo Domingo, and Aventura.
The sale of the businesses in these three markets to GB Group includes a network of 213 service stations currently under the Texaco brand, five aviation facilities and two import terminals.
Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide.