Staff Editor

PERTH, Australia,  CMC – West Indies speedster Kemar Roach saved his best for last, producing a superb spell to help propel Brisbane Heat to the capture of the Australian Big Bash title here today.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela’s vice president hit out at the country’s business leaders today, saying they were seeking to destabilize the nation while cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez fights to recover from surgery.

(Trinidad Guardian) Over the last two years T&T has intensified its deportation of illegal immigrants and criminals as some 750 people were sent back to their respective countries in Africa, Asia and Europe.

(Barbados Nation) THE LIME/Barbados Workers’ Union (BWU) negotiations have made significant progress after more than 12 hours of talks spilling into the wee hours of this morning, with the telecom-munications giant set to tender an apology on how it has handled the matter.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica – Fire of unknown origin destroyed a section of the Omni Industries Limited and Flexpak compound in Twickenham Park, St Catherine early this morning.

The police today said they are investigating the murder of Jasmattie Pooran, 70 years, of Guava Bush, Albion, Corentyne, whose body was found at about 1110h today.

The police today said that a watchman at the Lethem RDC office died after he was gagged during a robbery and bandits raided five safes before fleeing.

(Barbados Nation) RIHANNA’S “good girl gone bad” image isn’t shining a positive spotlight on Barbados as of late, say some Barbadians on social media.

(Trinidad Express) A man accused of murdering four people in 2006 walked out of the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain, a free man yesterday afternoon after he was found not guilty of the charges.

(Trinidad Express) Police believe they made some headway in a spate of shootings between rival gangs from John John and the Beetham Gardens.

MELBOURNE,  (Reuters) – Roger Federer was in no mood to let a trend develop after the first real upsets of the week at the Australian Open tennis today and slapped down local upstart Bernard Tomic with authority to reach the fourth round.

(Reuters)  – By seizing hundreds of hostages at a gas plant in the Algerian desert, al Qaeda-linked militants angry at French intervention in Mali sent a clear message: they could strike anywhere in the Sahara.

(Trinidad Express) United States-based ratings agency Moody’s has reaffirmed the Baa1 government bond rating of Trinidad and Tobago, with an economic outlook regarded as “stable” for the country.

ALGIERS,  (Reuters) – The field commander of the Islamist group that attacked a gas plant in the Algerian desert this week and seized many hostages is a veteran fighter from Niger called Abdul Rahman al-Nigeri, Mauritanian news agencies reported.

ALGIERS,  (Reuters) – Algerian special forces today found 15 burned bodies at the desert gas plant attacked by al Qaeda-linked fighters, a source familiar with the unfolding hostage crisis there said.

(Trinidad Express) A man who left his two-year-old son in a vehicle—when he fled police with a bag containing $60,000 in marijuana—was on Thursday told his defence was a “long-winded tale”.

GROS ISLET, St Lucia,  CMC – Guyana held off Windward Islands to win a nerve-jangling encounter off the last ball and force their way into Saturday’s playoff final of the Caribbean Twenty20.

The 6th publication of ‘Guyana Where and What’, a  guide on the country’s history, culture and events  was launched today at the Ministry of Tourism in the presence of its Publisher Gem Madhoo-Nascimento of GEMS Inc.,

(Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear four new cases, addressing matters as diverse as the reach of a law designed to combat chemical weapons, and whether lawyers could be sued for having once represented convicted swindler Allen Stanford.

GROS ISLET, St Lucia,  CMC – Jamaica defeated Combined Campuses and Colleges by seven wickets in the penultimate preliminary round game of the Caribbean Twenty20 at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium here today.