Staff Editor

(Trinidad Express) Already crippled by record low tourist arrivals, Tobago was given another blow after a British couple who were attacked by a cutlass- wielding man at their Bacolet home last year made a public appeal for nationals of the United Kingdom to stay away from the sister isle.

SYDNEY,  (Reuters) – “Humiliation of a century”,  “Pathetic Aussies hit Ashes low”, “Ponting’s men humiliated” —  local newspapers pulled no punches after what one described as  Australia’s “worst cricketing day for 100 years”.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuelan President Hugo  Chavez made his first use of new decree powers yesterday to  create a $2.3 billion fund for reconstruction after widespread  flooding that left more than 130,000 people homeless.

SAN ANTONIO, Texas,  (Reuters) – Tony Parker   scored 20 points and made 14 assists to help the San   Antonio Spurs rebound from their worst loss of the season with   a 94-80 victory over the Washington Wizards yesterday.

ABIDJAN,  (Reuters) – Ivory Coast presidential  claimant Alassane Ouattara called today for a nationwide  general strike that would shut the country down until  internationally isolated incumbent Laurent Gbagbo cedes power.

GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – Guatemala captured  nearly two dozen suspected drug traffickers, automatic weapons  and small planes in a country-wide sweep to crack down on  Mexican cartels smuggling drugs through Central America.

NEW YORK,  (Reuters) – Heavy snow and strong winds  slammed the northeastern United States today, canceling  hundreds of flights and causing havoc as travelers scurried to  return to work after the Christmas holiday.

It has been almost three days since shipping clerk Gail Perreira was snatched at gunpoint and as relatives continue to receive ransom demands, her location and the motive for the kidnapping remain a mystery.

DURBAN, South Africa, (Reuters) – Dale Steyn produced  another magnificent exhibition of fast outswing bowling today to scythe through the Indian batting on the opening day  of the second test at Kingsmead.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Chris Gayle’s decision to represent Western Australia instead of Jamaica in Twenty20 cricket next month has not gone down well with the Jamaica Cricket Association (JCA).

(Barbados Nation) One regional manager wants a more youthful look for West Indies cricket come the New Year.

CAIRO, (Reuters) – Eight U.S. tourists were killed  and 21 injured when their coach hit a stationary truck in  southern Egypt, the state news agency MENA said today.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – England seized control of   the Ashes today by skittling Australia for 98, a record   low for the hosts in Melbourne, and building a lead of 59 runs   without loss at the close of the first day’s play in the   fourth test.

(Trinidad Newsday) Guyana’s national squash team coach Alwyn Callender, insisted that more facilities for development must be put into Trinidad and Tobago (TT) squash, to further the sport throughout this country and the Caribbean.

(Trinidad Express) “All she wanted for Christmas was a dolly. She said, ‘Granny, I would like to have a dolly for Christmas please.

(Trinidad Express) Low tourist arrivals and occupancy, trending downward in the last three years, have combined with other factors to make a perfect storm that is creating havoc on Tobago’s tourism industry, squeezing the life out of the hotel business and the island’s economy.

VATICAN CITY, (Reuters) – Pope Benedict prayed for a  rebirth of peace in the Middle East and encouraged Catholics in  Iraq and communist China to resist persecution in his Christmas  message read amid heightened security yesterday.

PANAMA CITY, (Reuters) – Panamanian President  Ricardo Martinelli tried to bully the U.S.

ABIDJAN, (Reuters) – Three West African presidents  will fly to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to tell incumbent leader  Laurent Gbagbo to quit or face force, Benin said yesterday, a  sign of mounting regional determination to force him out.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Former Venezuelan President  Carlos Andres Perez, who survived two coup attempts but was  finally forced from office as the first Latin American leader  to be convicted of corruption, died yesterday in Miami.