Staff Editor

BIRMINGHAM, England,  (Reuters) – Jamaican sprinter Michael Frater “wouldn’t bet against” Usain Bolt retaining his Olympic 100 metres title in London, despite lingering concerns over his fitness and the threat to his track supremacy from compatriot Yohan Blake.

ACCRA,  (Reuters) – Ghana’s President John Atta Mills has died unexpectedly, a presidential statement said, and an aide said his death occurred today after he took ill on Monday night.

A Partnership for National Unity today called for a ‘Day of Mourning’ on Wednesday 25th July, over the killing by the Guyana Police Force of three men and injury to others last Wednesday.

Ulric Michael, one of the Linden protestors who was shot and wounded by the police last Wednesday was this morning air-dashed to the city on a GDF helicopter after his condition took a turn for the worse.

(Trinidad Guardian) CIBC First Caribbean and RBC Royal Bank are threatening to appoint a receiver as they try to recover debts of TT$850 million owed to them for the construction of the luxury, high-rise apartment complex, known as the Shorelands Renaissance.

(Jamaica Observer) Head of the Lottery Scam Task Force, Superintendent Leon Clunis, has been marked for death by criminals involved in the illegal activity, the Jamaica Observer has learnt.

The Demerara Harbour Bridge (DHB) is scheduled to re-open to light traffic tomorrow morning, General Manager Rawlston Adams said today.

(Barbados Nation) If Attorney General Adriel Brathwaite had his way, the Government would not have committed itself to investing in the stalled Four Seasons project.

(Barbados Nation) No Barbadians are on a shortlist of candidates for the position of West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) chief executive officer.

(Barbados Nation) Individuals and companies owed by insolvent airline REDjet will have to wait a little longer to hear how the company plans to settle its debt.

(Trinidad Express) The opposition continues to train its guns on National Security Minister Jack Warner calling for yet another probe into “gifts” he received and distributed while he held the position of FIFA vice-president.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Prime Minister David Cameron’s ex-media chief and Rupert Murdoch’s former UK newspaper boss are to be charged with phone-hacking offences in the most significant development in a scandal that has rocked Britain’s establishment.

(Trinidad Express) Former national security minister Martin Joseph wrestled with a gun-toting bandit at his gated Flagstaff, Long Circular, home on Sunday night but was overpowered and hog-tied.

President Donald Ramotar is urging an immediate return to normalcy at Linden even as he has indicated that his Government is amenable to meeting relatives of the three persons who lost their lives during the power tariff protest on July 18, and to offer assistance to them.

The Maritime Administration (MARAD) has given the go ahead for water taxis to install navigation lights on their vessels so that they can operate a 24-hour service in light of the Demerara Harbour Bridge being temporarily out of commission, GINA reported this evening.

GWI today said that due to a damaged electrical pole in the vicinity of the Wisroc Water Treatment Plant, customers in the following areas are experiencing a service disruption: * Wisroc, * Block 22 * Blue Berry Hill * One mile * Canvas City * One Mile It said that the LUSCSL is currently addressing the power disruption.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., (Reuters) – Sally Ride, the first U.S. woman to travel into space, died today after a 17-month battle with pancreatic cancer, according to her organization, Sally Ride Science.

Digicel today welcomed the decision of Justice Rishi Persaud in the Commercial Division of the High Court in which he ruled that the monopoly held by GT&T to provide telecommunications service or to regulate voice and data transmission over the internet is unlawful and void.

The United Nations System in Guyana today issued a statement expressing condolences to the families of the three men who died in the Linden protests last week and commending the government’s decision to set up a Commission of Enquiry into the matter.

Police today said that at about 0400h yesterday, a  dredge capsized in the Cuyuni River resulting in the death of three Brazilian nationals.