Staff Editor

(Jamaica Gleaner) China, Singapore and the Netherlands have pledged technical support to assist Jamaica fast track its plan to establish itself as the logistics hub of the Americas, according to Minister of Industry, investment and Commerce, Anthony Hylton.

(Barbados Nation) For the first time, Barbadians can access a passport within 24 hours.

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – BP Plc will pay $4.5 billion in penalties and plead guilty to felony misconduct in the Deepwater Horizon disaster, which caused the worst U.S.

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – In very strong words President Desi Bouterse reiterated that Suriname is a sovereign nation that need not answer to the Netherlands.

(Trinidad Guardian) Dr Neil Parsan, T&T’s ambassador to Washington, has been reported on an official Web site as saying the local East Indian community is the “most well-to-do and culturally strong and progressive ethnic group in the uniquely plural society of T&T.”

(Jamaica Observer) Students in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the University of the West Indies (UWI) can now access electronic medical texts at a fraction of the cost for the printed material, saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars each year.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – Parts of Mumbai were shut down today as supporters of firebrand Hindu nationalist leader Bal Keshav Thackeray flocked into India’s commercial capital, alarmed by reports that he was close to death after a sharp decline in his health.

DHAKA,  ( Reuters) – Naeem Islam scored a patient maiden century as Bangladesh reached 455 for six wickets and made West Indies toil hard on a placid wicket in the first test in Dhaka today.

A 16-year-old girl was fatally stabbed last night at her Kumaka, Region One home by a man who later hung himself.

(Jamaica Observer) There is a backlog of some 500 cases before the Home Circuit Court, but the Ministry of Justice says it needs about J$5 billion and time to straighten out the besieged system, with no other option than turning to an already cash-strapped Ministry of Finance and Planning.

(Barbados Nation) Devaluation of the Barbados dollar is out of the question.

(Trinidad Express) In keeping with the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service’s new approach, officers new and old are being made to learn customer service and community policing tactics.

(Trinidad Express) The family of slain Freeport pensioner Indra Gangabissoon continue on their personal quest to find her killer or killers.

BEIJING, (Reuters) – China’s ruling Communist Party unveiled an older, conservative leadership line-up today that appears unlikely to take the drastic action needed to tackle pressing issues like social unrest, environmental degradation and corruption.

BELIZE CITY,  (Reuters) – Belize’s prime minister today urged anti-virus software pioneer John McAfee to help the country’s police with a murder inquiry, calling McAfee “bonkers” for recent media statements.

HAVANA,  (Reuters) – The Scarabeo 9, a Chinese-built offshore drilling rig that Cuba hoped would open a new era of oil production, sailed away from the island today, taking with it the communist country’s near-term dreams of energy independence.

AUSTIN, Texas,  (Reuters) – The Lance Armstrong Foundation has formally dropped the name of the disgraced cyclist from its title, the organization said today, marking the latest move by the cancer charity to distance itself following the biggest doping scandal in the sport’s history.

(Jamaica Observer) KINGSTON, Jamaica – An estimated 400 people have been killed in relation to the lottery scamming in Jamaica since 2006, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Glenmore Hinds said.

 (Jamaica Gleaner) The police say they have arrested two men in connection with the murders of the Deputy Chief of Security at the Jamaica Postal Service Barrington Davis and his friend Patricia Lurmot-Barnswell.

WASHINGTON,  (Reuters) – A computer used by Paula Broadwell, the woman whose affair with CIA director General David Petraeus led to his resignation, contained substantial classified information that should have been stored under more secure conditions, law enforcement and national security officials said today.