Regional News

(Trinidad Express) The worst of the downturn in the local economy is on the way.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – The expected ruling  party candidate in Brazil’s 2010 presidential election has been  drawn into a scandal by an accusation that she tried to stop a  probe into the finances of the Senate chief’s family.

(Barbados Nation) Attorney-General Freundel Stuart will soon be entering discussions with the Royal Barbados Police Force to get interrogation rooms equipped for tape recordings started.

(Trinidad Express) Forty police officers ranging in rank from Inspector to Constable will take up duty at various police stations along the East-west Corridor after being transferred from the St Joseph Police Station.

(Trinidad Express) A full-fledged investigation has been launched into the discovery of seven firearms, a large quantity of ammunition and illegal narcotics stashed in the ceiling of the St Joseph Police Station.

BOGOTA,  (Reuters) – Colombia yesterday released 11  Ecuadorean troops a day after they were seized in Colombian  territory at a time of heightened tensions between the Andean  neighbors, authorities from both countries said.

TEGUCIGALPA, (Reuters) – The de facto rulers of  Honduras snubbed the head of the Organization of American  States yesterday and cancelled a planned visit for talks on the  crisis caused by a coup in June.

MIAMI, (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Bill Clinton  said yesterday he would lead an international trade mission of  private investors to Haiti in October to pursue energy and  other development amid signs the nation is stabilizing.

(Trinidad Express) Beleaguered Port of Spain insurance giant CLICO has had its financial strength downgraded by a prominent United States ratings agency.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez  yesterday told Colombian President Alvaro Uribe to show up to  a regional summit to explain a plan to expand the US troop  presence at Colombian military bases.

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuba, in the grip of a serious economic crisis, is running short of toilet paper and may not get sufficient supplies until the end of the year, officials with state-run companies said yesterday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – Five persons including a female, said to be the sister of St Elizabeth’s most-wanted man, were taken into custody following clampdown operations against an illegal lottery scam in Warminster and Leeds district.

Cheaper drugs under Clinton deal HIV patients in developing countries could get cheaper drugs under agreements signed between former US President Bill Clinton’s foundation and two drug companies.

(Trinidad Express) – Police are investigating the deaths of a police constable and his wife whose bodies were found at her workplace in Curepe on Wednesday afternoon.

(Barbados Nation) – Should a hurricane or an earthquake strike, about 75 per cent of Barbados’ homes could be reduced to rubble due to shoddy construction.

(Trinidad Express) – A ten-year-old is being treated at hospital after her mother allegedly burnt her hand in a hot pot of rice.

(Trinidad Express) – The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office has agreed to extradite a Trinidadian man wanted in this country for drug trafficking after being given the assurance by the State that the prisoner will not be confined to inhumane prison conditions.

Court adjourns sex case against pastor KINGSTON, Jamaica (Antigua Sun) – Jamaican-born pastor, Paul Lewis is to return to court on 4 September after the prosecution was successful in getting a court to allow him more time to prepare for the sex-related charges against the US-based pastor.

LA REFORMA, Guatemala, (Reuters) – Residents of a  poor Guatemalan town have rallied around a family sought by the  United States for drug trafficking but respected at home for  handing out food, jobs and medicine to people in need. 

CARACAS, (Reuters) – South America’s hardline leftist  leaders yesterday criticized U.S.