Storm threat to key US election week
Hurricane Sandy is swirling towards the US, forcing presidential candidates to adjust schedules and cancel events.
President Barack Obama has held a conference call with emergency chiefs to discuss preparations for the storm, which could hit as early as Monday.
Its sustained winds of 75mph (120km/h) are set to intensify as it merges with a wintry storm from the western US.
Swing states like Florida and Ohio lie in its path, meaning how it is handled could impact on voting, analysts say.
At 20:00 EDT (00:00 GMT on Sunday), the eye of the storm was about 330 miles south of Cape Hatteras in North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center.
There are concerns that severe winter conditions, strong winds and storm surges could affect election campaigning and might even hamper polling day on 6 November.
Craig Fugate, director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said: "This is not a coastal threat alone. This is a very large area."
Up to 60 million Americans could be affected.
Sandy has already killed 60 people in the Caribbean as it swirled north during the past week.
National health insurance promised for Grenada
The Grenada government, which has announced 2013 as the scheduled start of several major initiatives – including the beginning of construction of a new parliament building – is promising to unveil another project next year.
Senator Ann Peters, the Minister of Health, has said that “significant work” has been completed in setting up a national health insurance program for Grenada.
The work has included the submission of a report by consultant Professor Karl Theodore of the University of the West Indies.
“By next year, we should have a national health insurance program on the ground in Grenada,” Peters said.
“Not too long from now,” she added, “I think government can make a formal statement on when it’s going to roll out (the program) and what it is going to require of us as a people.”
Grenada, Peters revealed, is studying the national health insurance models of Antigua, Dominica and the British Virgin Islands, and considering what will be contained in the “basket of goods” that will comprise the local health insurance plan.
“You may have to decide what are the services you are going to include in that package,” she explained. “Antigua seems to have a really well laid out program. They have different tiers.”
The four-year-old Grenada government, which has been criticized by many for not generating meaningful economic and social progress since coming to office in 2008, is expected to call general elections in the next few months.
At a public rally in June, Finance Minister Nazim Burke said that more than $688 million had been raised to undertake economic and social projects to improve the situation in the country.
He said government does not intend to hand over the money to opposition leader, Dr Keith Mitchell, to spend with his New National Party (NNP).
The NNP was in power for 13 consecutive years until it was defeated in the 2008 general elections by the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
The NDC won 11 of 15 seats. However, four of the elected MPs have since resigned from government, and a fifth was fired in January by Prime Minister Tillman Thomas.
All five former ministers were expelled from the NDC at its November 30 annual convention.
Caribbean News Now
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova set for WTA final
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova will face each other in the final of the WTA Championships in Istanbul.
Williams, the American world number three, booked her place in Sunday's final with an emphatic 6-2 6-1 win over Agnieszka Radwanska in 61 minutes.
Sharapova, the world number two from Russia, had to work much harder before overpowering world number one Victoria Azarenka 6-4 6-2 in her semi-final.
The match featured a sixth game in the second set that lasted 15 minutes.
Sharapova served two double-faults but finally broke Azarenka's resistance after nine deuces to take a 5-1 lead.
Azarenka, who had secured the year-end top ranking the day before with her win over Li Na, seemed to be hindered by a strained right thigh and was unable to prevent her opponent's victory.
"I have lost to Victoria a few times so I was happy to get the chance to play against her," said Sharapova, who went into the match having lost to the Belarusian four times out of five this year.
"Against the world number one, you have to run down every ball. She's number one for a reason so I had to be ready for every shot.
"It will be a difficult match against Serena. She's been on fire, she's the one to beat."
Sharapova, the French Open champion, will now seek to win her second WTA Championship title, having also won it in 2004.
West Indies hosts one-week camp ahead of Bangla tour
The West Indies team will begin a one-week preparatory camp here today ahead of the tour of Bangladesh, which starts early next month. As has been the custom in recent years, the camp will be held at the well-appointed 3Ws Oval at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies.
Manchester City beat Swansea 1-0
Manchester City stuttered to an unconvincing win over a battling Swansea in the longest game in Premier League history.
Carlos Tevez's stunner rescued Roberto Mancini's team as they followed up their midweek European disappointment with another lacklustre display.
Keeper Joe Hart had kept the hosts in the game with two saves from Michu.
But Tevez's 30-yard strike on the hour gave the hosts the three points and sent the champions second in the table.
Both managers, however, will be concerned as each had a star player carried off on a stretcher, Swans goalkeeper Michel Vorm and Blues defender Micah Richards suffering worrying injuries.
Each required lengthy treatment on the field, racking up a record 12 minutes of added time.
But a match in which Manchester City extended their unbeaten home league run to 34 games will be remembered for little else, Mancini's men still seeming shaken from their midweek European capitulation at Ajax.
Tevez's clinical brilliance was the difference as Swansea enjoyed the better openings but the hosts had the ability to penetrate.
Mancini's side had an alert Richards to thank early on as he cleared a dangerous right-wing Hernandez cross with Swansea top-scorer Michu lurking.
The Spanish striker suffered a blow to the head as the England right-back headed the ball away and Michu, worryingly, lay motionless for a couple of minutes.
But Michu recovered and showed no ill effects as 10 minutes later he put the ball in the home side's net.
The effort, however, was disallowed because he was offside when Wayne Routledge played the through ball.
That chance came just moments after visiting keeper Vorm almost gifted their hosts an opening goal.
Vorm's poor clearance fell straight to Sergio Aguero and as the Argentine striker set up countryman Tevez, Swans defender Chico Flores stepped in to clear the danger.
Vorm, though, did not make a telling save until the 38th minute when the Dutch international kept out Tevez's 15-yard drive - a statistic that would concern Blues boss Mancini.
And the anxiety around the Etihad deepened as Swansea wasted two glorious chances to put themselves ahead in the final 10 minutes of the first half.
Hernandez failed to capitalise when set free in the box before Michu was also unable to convert Ki Sung-Yueng's defence-splitting pass as England international Hart smothered his toe-poke.
Mancini's side responded to the half-time Etihad boos, Aguero firing wide within 18 seconds of the restart.
Mario Balotelli, a half-time replacement for the injured Aleksandar Kolarov, also had a sight of goal as the hosts stepped up the pressure.
The Italy international could not get to right-back Richards's low driven cross, although Balotelli wanted a penalty as he claimed Chico pulled his shirt.
Swansea, though, did give their expensively assembled rivals a warning as Hart again denied Michu from a header.
But Tevez ended his eight-game goal drought with a moment of magic, a swerving strike that left Vorm helpless as the ball flew into the bottom right-hand corner of his net.
Vorm was injured in the process and was carried off on a stretcher nursing his groin. Moments later, Richards too required a stretcher after collapsing holding his knee with no-one else near him.
Sacked platinum miners reinstated
The world's biggest platinum producer, Anglo American Platinum (Amplats), has agreed to reinstate the 12,000 South African miners sacked for taking part in an unofficial strike.
It had agreed to take back the miners if they returned to work by Tuesday, the National Union of Mineworkers said.
South Africa's mining sector has been hit by a series of wildcat strikes, which have cost millions of dollars.
Dozens of people have been killed in strike-related violence.
The miners were sacked three weeks ago.
"They agreed to reinstate all the dismissed workers on the provision that they return to work by Tuesday," NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka told the Reuters news agency.
He said he expected workers would return to their posts and "that will mean the end of the strike".
Amplats said in a statement: "Employees who do not return to work on Tuesday... will remain dismissed and/or be subjected to the illegal strike disciplinary action and will not be eligible for any of the benefits mentioned above."
The company said it was offering the miners a one-off hardship payment of $230 (£140) to facilitate their return.
Calm may now be returning, with many mining companies agreeing to higher wage demands, but in the longer term, more miners are likely to be laid off, says the BBC's Andrew Harding in Johannesburg.
And while the unrest has shaken the authorities here, there is no sign that it has prompted the sort of radical steps many are calling for, our correspondent adds.
High cost
Strikes at South Africa's platinum, gold and coal mines are estimated to have cost the country more than $1bn.
More than 40 people died in violent clashes between police and striking workers at a platinum mine in August.
South Africa is one of the world's biggest producers of precious metals.
Analysts say workers across the industry are disaffected with the NUM and other mainstream unions, regarding them as too close to the employers.
The workers had been demanding 6,000 rand ($1,800; £1,100) in monthly pay, more than three times their current average salary.
Samsung posts record profits on Galaxy phone sales
Samsung Electronics has reported record profits in the three months to September, led by strong sales of its Galaxy range of smartphones. Net profit was 6.5t won ($5.9b; £3.7b), up 91 per cent from a year earlier. The South Korean phonemaker was also boosted by strong demand at its display panel unit.
The results come after quarterly profits from Apple—its biggest rival in phones and tablets—disappointed some investors. While Samsung has enjoyed tremendous success with its Galaxy range of smartphones, other manufacturers have been releasing new models.
But not all mobile phone firms are doing well as competition gets more aggressive. Last month, Apple started selling the latest version of its iPhone and this week, launched a smaller version of the best-selling iPad.
On Thursday, it announced profits in the last quarter were $8.2b, up from $6.6b last year. HTC said on Friday its sales would be lower than had been expected at the end of the year as the Taiwanese smartphone maker has been finding it hard to emulate the success of its rivals and South Korea’s LG Display returned to profit for the first time in more than a year as strong demand for the iPhone 5 and tablets increased sales of its display panels.
Samsung expects market competition to intensify but “we will do our best to sustain our earnings momentum throughout the fourth quarter by implementing strategies we have developed for our businesses,” said Robert Yi, head of investor relations. The firm said its flagship Galaxy SIII smartphone has been a key driver in raising profit margins.
“The business environment remained difficult with global economic uncertainties persisting amid the fiscal concerns in the US and Europe. “However, we continued to break our quarterly profit records,” Yi added. The display panels unit at the firm had revenues of 8.46t won, up 19 per cent from the previous year. The unit is now profitable.
And the firm expects a “flurry of new mobile devices hitting the market” to boost sales of application processors and image sensors it makes that power smartphones and tablet PCs.
BBC
Italy ex-PM Berlusconi threatens to topple Monti government
Italian ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi has threatened to bring down the government of technocrats led by Mario Monti.
Mr Berlusconi said the cabinet was leading Italy into a "spiral of recession" and that his centre-right PDL party would decide in the coming days whether it would end its support.
It is the largest party in parliament and the move could trigger early polls.
Mr Berlusconi was forced to step down last year. His comments come a day after he was found guilty of tax fraud.
He is expected to appeal against the four-year-jail sentence - reduced to one - on charges of inflating the price of distribution rights bought by his Mediaset group to avoid paying taxes.
Painful cuts
Mr Berlusconi was speaking as thousands of protesters marched through Rome in a demonstration against austerity measures launched by the Monti government.
The former prime minister accused the Monti government of "fiscal extortion".
"We have to recognise the fact that the initiative of this government is a continuation of a spiral of recession for our economy," Mr Berlusconi said.
"Together with my collaborators we will decide in the next few days whether it is better to immediately withdraw our confidence in this government or keep it, given the elections that are scheduled."
The last election was held in 2008 and the next is due in 2013.
Mr Monti was appointed last November, when Italy's credit rating was affected by the eurozone debt crisis.
His government has since pushed through tax rises, spending cuts and an overhaul of the pension system.
Nearly 30 Killed in Explosions Across Iraq
A wave of deadly attacks has shattered the peace in Iraq during the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Officials say nearly 30 people were killed in a series of explosions and shootings on Saturday, many of them Shi'ite pilgrims.
The deadliest attacks happened in Baghdad where an explosion at an open-air market and a bus station killed more than 15 people and wounded dozens more, many of then women and children.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the attacks.
Sunni insurgents and al-Qaida militants have previously targeted Shi'ites in a bid to stir up sectarian strife in Iraq.
Violence across Iraq is down sharply from its peak in 2006 and 2007. However, 365 people were killed in unrest in September, making it the country's deadliest month in two years.
Suspected Coup Leader Arrested in Guinea Bissau
Officials with the transitional government in Guinea Bissau say the suspected leader of last week's attempted coup has been arrested.
Captain Pansao Ntchama and at least two other suspects were arrested Saturday on an island just off the coast of the West African nation.
Government troops repelled the pre-dawn attack on an air force base last Sunday. Seven people were killed.
Authorities accuse Portugal, the former colonial ruler of Guinea Bissau, of being behind the the attack. They say Portugal was seeking to restore former Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior to power. He was toppled in a coup in April between the first and second rounds of a presidential election.
Guinea Bissau was been wracked by coups and unrest since winning independence from Portugal in 1974.