In brief: Police accused of bank robbery

KABUL, Afghanistan – The bank robbers were men who were often seen around town in uniform - police uniforms. They were, in fact, police.

Three Afghan national police officers fled a bank in Afghanistan’s Nuristan province after breaking in after hours and stealing about $550,000 Friday, said provincial police chief Gen. Ghulamullah Nuristani.

The officers were assigned to guard the bank, a local branch of Afghanistan’s central bank, Nuristani said.

Two of the officers were cornered in a nearby home and arrested, Nuristani said. He said the home belongs to Abdul Rahman Kahan, who had been in charge of security guards for the province’s previous government.

Police recovered most of the money and were pursuing the third bandit and the rest of the cash, Nuristani said.

Egypt enthrones new Coptic pope

CAIRO – The new pope of Egypt’s Orthodox Coptic church was enthroned on Sunday in an elaborate ceremony lasting nearly four hours, attended by the nation’s Muslim prime minister and a host of Cabinet ministers and politicians.

Pope Tawadros II, 60, was elected Nov. 4, but the official enthronement ceremony was held Sunday at the Coptic cathedral in Cairo. He replaced Shenouda III, who died in March after leading the ancient church for 40 years.

The packed cathedral repeatedly erupted into applause as the ceremony progressed. The ceremony’s climax came when the papal crown was placed on Tawadros’ head before he sat on the throne of St. Mark, the church’s founding saint.

Egypt’s Christians make up about 10 percent of the nation’s estimated 83 million people, the largest single Christian community in the Middle East.