Staff Editor

(Trinidad Express) Sexual offences and kidnappings were at an all time high last year than any other time over the past five years, according to statistics from the Crime and Problem Analysis Branch (CAPA) of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS).

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – Sri Lanka will use the example of their remarkable turnaround on their last tour of South Africa to try and rescue a face-saving third test victory against Australia, captain Mahela Jayawardene said today.

(Trinidad Express) All those who were on duty at the Defence Force Headquarters in Chaguaramas the night Lance Corporal Curtis Marshall was murdered have been locked down at base while homicide detectives conduct their investigations.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The United States averted economic calamity yesterday when lawmakers approved a deal to prevent huge tax hikes and spending cuts that would have pushed the world’s largest economy off a “fiscal cliff” and into recession.

The Chinese electronics giant, Haier, has not yet begun assembling laptops here as a result of several factors including the re-organisation of the company’s structure in China.

(Trinidad Guardian) US Embassy officials have denied knowledge of imposing a ban on Carnival masqueraders passing near its building on Marli Street, Port-of-Spain.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – Washington’s last-minute scramble to step back from a “fiscal cliff” ran into trouble today as Republicans in the House of Representatives balked at a deal to avert a budget crisis.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Christopher Martin-Jenkins, a BBC cricket commentator and newspaper writer, has died of cancer at the age of 67.

Start-up logging company, Vaitarna Holding Private Incorporated (VHPI) has not yet set up a promised wood processing plant here but company director Chethan Narayan has assured that such a facility is on the cards and the company is doing the groundwork.

(Jamaica Gleaner) National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort will meet with senior officials of the Antigua and Barbuda Police Force tomorrow to deal with the upsurge in criminal activities on the island.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Mandeville was yesterday left in shock and disbelief after an elderly couple was found dead at their home in the town Monday morning.

(Barbados Nation) Reopen the case! Find the man who raped us!

(Trinidad Express) Legal Affairs Minister and Congress of the People leader Prakash Ramadhar yesterday stated that in 2013 he will keep the promise to deliver on Constitution reform.

ABIDJAN,  (Reuters) – About 60 people were crushed to death in Ivory Coast’s main city of Abidjan overnight after a New Year’s Eve fireworks display, an emergency official and state radio said today.

(Trinidad Express) Defence force soldier Curtis Marshall, who died at hospital early Sunday morning, was murdered.

(Trinidad Express) POLICE are investigating the murder of a San Fernando man, who was shot multiple times yesterday morning.

(Trinidad Express) A night liming with friends ended in tragedy for one fire officer after she was shot dead in Port of Spain on Sunday.

(Trinidad Express) The fight against crime will remain the Government’s top priority in 2013, says Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A deal worked out by U.S. Senate leaders to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” was far from any “grand bargain” of deficit reduction measures.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – The Senate moved the U.S. economy back from the edge of a “fiscal cliff” today, voting to avoid imminent tax hikes and spending cuts in a bipartisan deal that could still face stiff challenges in the House of Representatives.