World

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Rajat Gupta, who sat on the boards of some of America’s most prestigious companies, was arrested and charged yesterday with being the “illegal eyes and ears” for his friend Raj Rajaratnam, the central figure in a broad US crackdown on insider trading at hedge funds.

ERCIS Turkey (Reuters) – Turkey struggled to provide shelter yesterday to tens of thousands left homeless by an earthquake that killed nearly 500, and rescue teams began taking painful decisions to call off searches for those buried alive.

AMMAN (Reuters) – At least 20 people died in clashes and strikes paralysed parts of Syria yesterday as President Bashar al-Assad held an inconclusive meeting with Arab ministers seeking to end months of violence.

TUNIS (Reuters) – When hundreds of Tunisians drove through the capital sounding their horns and waving scarves this week to celebrate the election victory of an Islamist party, there was little jubilation in the Ennasr neighbourhood.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The wife of financial swindler Bernard Madoff said in an interview to be aired on Sunday that the couple attempted suicide by taking pills on Christmas Eve 2008 after his estimated $65 billion Ponzi scheme was exposed.

TUNIS, (Reuters) – Tunisia’s moderate Islamist party  yesterday claimed a thumping victory in the country’s first  election, sending a message to the region that once-banned  Islamists are challenging for power after the “Arab Spring”.

UNITED NATIONS, (Reuters) – The U.N. General  Assembly called yesterday for the 20th straight year on the  United States to lift its trade embargo against Cuba, as the  communist-run island dismissed as fraudulent U.S.

ERCIS, Turkey, (Reuters) – Rescuers pulled a  two-week-old baby girl alive from a collapsed apartment block yesterday as they battled to find survivors of an earthquake in  eastern Turkey that killed more than 400 people and made tens of  thousands homeless.

LOS ROQUES, Venezuela, (Reuters) – Luxury yachts  weigh anchor in pristine turquoise bays and small boats carry  wealthy families with deck chairs and picnic baskets through  the waves to the white sands of Francisqui Island.

MEXICO CITY, (Reuters) – Hurricane Rina intensified  in the Caribbean today, moving farther from recently  rain-hit coffee and sugar-growing countries in Central America  as it bears down on the popular Mexican resort Cancun.

TRIPOLI, (Reuters) – Muammar Gaddafi and his son  Mo’tassim were buried in a secret desert location on Tuesday,  five days after the deposed Libyan leader was captured, killed  and put on grisly public display.

PARIS, (Reuters) – Deposed Libyan leader Muammar  Gaddafi wrote to Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in  August begging him to halt a NATO-led intervention that was  helping a rebel uprising drive him from power, French weekly  Paris Match reported.

NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Eight New York City policemen were charged yesterday with helping run a gun-smuggling ring in a city where Mayor Michael Bloomberg is leading a national campaign against illegal guns.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s parliament rejected a call for a referendum on leaving the European Union yesterday, but a large-scale revolt against Prime Minister David Cameron hurt his authority and cast doubt on the country’s long-term commitment to Europe.

MISRATA, Libya (Reuters) – Ousted Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi will be buried today in a secret desert grave, a National Transitional Council official said, ending a wrangle over his rotting corpse that led many to fear for Libya’s governability.

TUNIS (Reuters) – Moderate Islamists claimed victory yesterday in Tunisia’s first democratic election, sending a message to other states in the region that long-sidelined Islamists are challenging for power after the “Arab Spring.”

ERCIS, Turkey (Reuters) – Rescuers searched the rubble of collapsed buildings yesterday for survivors and victims of a major earthquake that killed at least 279 people and injured more than 1,300 in mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.

(Jamaica Observer) Prime Minister Andrew Holness has called for a national stance against crime, corruption and injustice.

AN, Turkey, (Reuters) – More than 100 people were  confirmed killed and hundreds more feared dead yesterday when a  powerful earthquake hit southeast Turkey, flattening buildings  and leaving survivors crying for help from under the rubble.

TUNIS,  (Reuters) – Tunisian election officials  counted the votes today after the country’s first free  election, 10 months on from the moment Mohamed Bouazizi set  himself on fire in a protest that started the Arab Spring  uprisings.