Staff Editor

(BBC) Australia captain Michael Clarke was dismissed for a first-ball duck as his side finished day two of the third Test against India on 273-7.

(Trinidad Express) Integrity Commission chairman Kenneth Gordon says something has to be done about where Trinidad and Tobago stands on the corruption scale.

VATICAN CITY,  (Reuters) – Pope Francis today urged leaders of a Roman Catholic Church riven by scandal and crisis never to give in to discouragement and bitterness but to keep their eyes on their true mission.

(Trinidad Express) Bryan “Soldier Barry” Barrington, one of the key individuals who, according to National Security Minister Jack Warner, attended a meeting in St Joseph at which people conspired to destabilise the country, has vehemently denied he ever attended such a meeting.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados,  CMC – Off-spinner Shane Shillingford snatched a six-wicket haul as West Indies crushed Zimbabwe by nine wickets inside three days here today, to post their fifth consecutive Test victory for the first time in 25 years.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A ranking member of the United States Senate Special Committee on Aging yesterday rapped Jamaica for failing to do enough in fighting the lottery scam, arguing that the efforts to combat the scourge should be comparable with the country’s tourism marketing campaigns.

(Barbados Nation) Attorney General and Minister of Home Affairs Adriel Brathwaite admitted yesterday to having had doubts about whether Barbados was winning the drug war.

(Barbados Nation) Barbados has been the first Caribbean country to utilise the new CO2 fibre technology, advancing the island to a stage where it is now equal to the first world countries.

(Barbados Nation) It’s unlikely Barbados’ 28 000 public servants will get an increase of wages and salaries this year.

(Trinidad Express) The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) says it is gravely concerned about what may be perceived as “fast-track” legislation, which erodes constitutional rights.

GENEVA,  (Reuters) – Analysis of the tracks of an elementary particle found in the Large Hadron Collider last year “strongly indicates” that it is the long-sought Higgs boson, the CERN physics research centre said today.

(Barbados Nation) Rihanna’s Diamonds World tour isn’t shining so brightly now.

(Reuters) – West Indies bagged three Zimbabwe wickets late on day two to move into a commanding position in the first test in Barbados today.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s government said today it may not be possible to embalm the remains of late leader Hugo Chavez as planned because the process should have been started earlier.

VATICAN CITY,  (Reuters) – Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was elected in a surprise choice to be the new leader of the troubled Roman Catholic Church today, the first non-European pontiff in nearly 1,300 years, and said he would take the name Francis I.

(Jamaica Observer) E-learning Jamaica Company Limited (e-LJam) has signed a two-year contract with United Kingdom publisher Nelson Thornes for the lease of an e-textbook used in preparation for the Caribbean Secondary Education (CSEC) Geography examinations.

VATICAN CITY,  (Reuters) – Cardinals in secret conclave failed twice this morning to elect a new pope, as black smoke over the Sistine Chapel showed ballots on the first full day of voting were inconclusive.

(Trinidad Express) High Court judge Joan Charles yesterday ruled the CLICO bailout plan presented by the People’s Partnership Government was unlawful.

(Trinidad Express) It is more likely that a person will be struck by lightning in Trinidad and Tobago than it is that a killer will be executed.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – Indian police investigating the AgustaWestland bribery case raided homes and business premises in the New Delhi area and two other cities today after formally launching a probe into the helicopter firm and its parent company, Finmeccanica.