Rowan Williams has attended his last service as the Archbishop of Canterbury at the city’s cathedral, before he leaves office as head of the Church of England and spiritual leader of the 77 million-strong Anglican Communion.
More than 700 people turned out to bid farewell to 62-year-old Williams before he officially departs as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury today following a 10-year tenure.
He will go on to take up the posts of Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge, and chairman of the board of trustees of Christian Aid, the international development agency.
Williams will be replaced by 56-year-old former oil executive the Rt Rev Justin Welby, the Bishop of Durham, who will be consecrated in March at Canterbury Cathedral as Archbishop of Canterbury. (PA)
No injuries after plane skids
A jet skidded into a snow bank at an upstate New York airport and became stuck, temporarily stranding passengers.
A spokesman for the Albany County Airport Authority said no injuries had been reported.
The United Airlines flight was leaving the gate in Albany en route to Chicago when it slid off a paved roadway. It had been snowing lightly all day.
The 65 passengers and crew members were put on a bus and sent back to the airport terminal. (AP)
Julio’s duet with President
Haiti’s President performed a duet with Spanish crooner Julio Iglesias in a celebrity-studded concert in the Dominican Republic to help raise money for impoverished children.
Among the attendees were Dominican fashion designer Oscar de la Renta, Venezuelan fashion designer Carolina Herrera and US journalist Barbara Walters.
Haitian President Michel Martelly, better known by his stage name of Sweet Micky, thanked Iglesias for dedicating a concert of his 1 World Tour 2012 to Haiti’s children.
The proceeds will go to the Pink and White Foundation, a charity run by Martelly and his wife, Sophia. (AP)
Mubarak sons’ assets frozen
Swiss authorities have frozen €227 million sitting in Credit Suisse accounts in Geneva held by the sons of deposed Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche reported yesterday.
The funds are held in accounts belonging to Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of the ex-President who are currently being held in an Egyptian prison.
The brothers are accused of using their position as scions of Egypt’s long-time ruler to help themselves to villas, luxury cars and stakes in the country’s key companies.
According to the newspaper, the funds were deposited at the Credit Suisse in 2005, which was after Switzerland tightened rules governing transactions by politically exposed depositors. (AFP)