Staff Editor

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – Against all rules political party Pertajah Luhur (PL) lighted fireworks in public last Sunday in the District of Nickerie.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO — Exploration drilling in the Coronie Swamp has yielded oil.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Western Bureau:With few legitimate alternatives available, the police crackdown on the infamous lottery scam has left several St James communities facing the prospect of an unusually low-key festive season.

COVE SPRING HOUSE, Barbados,  CMC-A new franchise based Twenty20 tournament, ‘The Caribbean Premier League (CPL) was launched in Barbados on Monday, organizers Verus International have announced.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Russia has sent warships to the Mediterranean Sea in case it has to evacuate its citizens from Syria, Interfax news agency quoted a naval source as saying today.

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa,  (Reuters) – South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) re-elected President Jacob Zuma as leader of the party today, teeing him up for another seven years as head of state, and it chose businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as his deputy.

HOBART, (Reuters) – Match officials have found no evidence of ball-tampering in the Hobart test between Australia and Sri Lanka and no charges will be laid, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said today.

HOBART, (Reuters) – Seamers Peter Siddle and Mitchell Starc shared six late wickets to give Australia a dramatic 137-run victory over Sri Lanka in the last hour of the fifth and final day of the first test today.

(Trinidad Express) The Clico Policyholder Group is very happy with the performance of Republic Bank.

(Trinidad Express) Put aside “arrogance” and deal with the perception of corruption in this country, President George Maxwell Richards has said.

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Democratic Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii, a decorated veteran of World War Two and one of the longest-serving members of Congress, died today at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The St Catherine South police are reporting that they have seized another illegal high-powered weapon.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The Police High Command has condemned the murder of Police Corporal Ransford Durrant.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Global funding for the fight against malaria has stalled in the past two years, threatening to reverse what the World Health Organisation (WHO) says are “remarkable recent gains” in the battle to control one of the world’s leading infectious killers.

The Alliance For Change today urged that candidates for the top two positions in the Judiciary be identified and confirmed so as to avoid this branch of the state falling victim to the current difficulties and suspicions that have enmeshed the executive and the legislature.

(Trinidad Guardian) Investigations are continuing into the seizure of more than TT$2 million worth in cocaine.

(Trinidad Guardian) The spiralling crime situation in Laventille and nearby districts in east Port-of-Spain is impacting negatively on the development of those communities.

(Jamaica Observer) The Ministry of Labour and Social Security says it is unable to implement an annual five per cent increase in the wage ceiling for contributions to the National Insurance Scheme (NIS), due to losses suffered under the Jamaica Debt Exchange (JDX).

At about 0015h today, police say that Rohan Simon, 18 years, of Vevay, Mahaica, ECD; and Indar Singh, 31 years, of De Hoop, Mahaica, ECD, were travelling in the tray of an open-back motor pick-up vehicle along the Airy Hall Public Road, Mahaicony, when they fell out as the driver was negotiating a turn.

BRUSSELS,  (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive Commission will propose larger health warnings on cigarette packs and a ban on flavourings such as menthol, a draft revision of EU tobacco rules seen by Reuters today showed.