Staff Editor

(Barbados Nation) Bleak economic prospects in the region may put the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) at risk for further downgrades in its credit rating, says president Dr Warren Smith.

(Trinidad Express) Former chief magistrate Sherman McNicolls, who gave a police statement five years ago that led to a criminal charge being laid against Chief Justice Sat Sharma died on Thursday.

(Trinidad Express) Three men allowed to plead guilty to murder for the first time in local legal history will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

LEICESTER, England,  CMC – Out-of-favour West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan has been appointed Leicestershire’s four-day captain for the upcoming English county season.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez is recovering “satisfactorily” from his cancer surgery in Cuba although the process remains slow, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said today.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Dancehall entertainer Bounty Killer today won his second court battle within a week.

Senior Superintendent Lyndon Alves has denounced allegations on website about him which had among other things accused him of destabilizing the PPP/C government.

(Reuters) – U.S. software pioneer John McAfee said that he will not return to Belize where police want to question him about a murder case, but that he is willing to let authorities from the Central American nation interview him in a “neutral country.”

LONDON,  (Reuters) – International climate scientists are more certain than ever that humans are responsible for global warming, rising sea levels and extreme weather events, according to a leaked draft report by an influential panel of experts.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelans vote for state governors on Sunday in an election that will decide if the opposition stays united behind youthful leader Henrique Capriles amid signs that President Hugo Chavez’s cancer could force him to step down.

(Trinidad Guardian) National Security Minister Jack Warner claims he has been vindicated now that football’s governing body, FIFA, has closed its investigation into allegations that Mohamed bin Hammam, former president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), paid bribes to Caribbean officials.

(Jamaica Observer) Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush said yesterday that he will not heed calls to resign, insisting his arrest this week on suspicion of corruption is a plot by political enemies who are trying to weaken him and smear his reputation.

(Jamaica Observer) The European Union (EU) has defended its Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Caribbean countries, rejecting criticism that the free trade agreement will lead to a fallout in regional economies.

(Jamaica Observer) A well-known justice of the peace was found dead in his partially razed home in what police theorised to be a murder on Syres Road, off Molynes Road, in St Andrew yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) DEEP BAY, Antigua — JFF boss Captain Horace Burrell did not mince words when he lashed the performance of the Reggae Boyz in the ongoing CFU Caribbean Championship.

(BBC) James Anderson took three wickets to put England in control after day two of the final Test against India in Nagpur.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica customs officials have confiscated more than US$200,000 or approximately J$18.5 million from a Jamaican national who attempted to clear customs through the ‘nothing to declare’ channel.

(Barbados Nation) Four counts of misconduct have been added to the charges of two police officers who are already accused of indecently assaulting three American women.

(Barbados Nation) Double rape accused Derick Crawford is now a free man, but still a very angry man.

(Trinidad Express) The Jamaica Observer newspaper owes Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and the people of this country an apology.