Three things you must know this week…

1) On Sunday, 4th November, Bishop Tawadros was selected to be the 118th Pope of the Egyptian, Coptic Church. In an elaborate ceremony intended to invoke the will of God, a blind-folded boy drew the name of the next pope out of a crystal chalice filled with three sheets of paper. The three contenders were chosen by senior clerics in a selection process, which began after the death of the previous patriarch, Pope Shenouda III, in March of this year. While Coptic Christians are a small minority in a majority Muslim Egypt, they are one of the predominant sects of Christianity in the Middle East. Pope Tawadros II will face a tremendous challenge as Egypt’s transition to democracy is marred by rifts between Islamist and secularist groups.

2) On Monday and Tuesday, multiple bombs exploded in Taji, a town north of Baghdad. On Monday, two car bombs killed eight members of an army patrol and wounded sixteen civilians. On Tuesday, a bomb exploded at the entrance to an Iraqi military base. At least 26 people were killed, and 40 were wounded. The Police say a car bomb exploded, while a source within the Iraqi army said it was a suicide bomber. The Associated Press claims it was a suicide bomber in a car filled with explosives, who planned to detonate as the guards were changing shift. It is believed that the military personnel at Taji were targeted because numerous new recruits are trained at the base.

3) On Tuesday, 6th November, United States President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term in office, narrowly beating Republican challenger, Former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney. The election season started in May, when Mitt Romney became the presumed Republican candidate after his opponents ceded the race. President Obama won the electoral college with 332 votes, compared Governor Romney’s 206 votes. President Obama surpassed the necessary 270 electoral votes to win by carrying key states like Ohio, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and Florida. Romney won the battleground state of North Carolina. Obama narrowly won the popular vote with roughly 2%. Besides the presidential race, Americans also elected new members to Congress. The House of Representatives remained majority Republican, while the Senate remained mostly Democrat. The 2012 election has been a milestone for the LGBT movement and marijuana smokers. Wisconsin Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin was the first elected, openly gay senator, while Maine and Maryland legalized same sex marriage. Recreational use of marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington, while Massachusetts and Montana approved medical marijuana referendums.

Headline image ©http://www.csmonitor.com