Jazzing it in St Lucia
There were sell out crowds at this year’s just concluded St Lucia Jazz Festival.
Many who attending, including a number of Barbadians, said they enjoyed the event. They were especially wowed by headliner Diana Ross, who thrilled with some hits including I'm Coming Out, the theme from Mahogany, Do You Know Where You're Going To, Love Child, Endless Love, Stop in the Name of Love, Love Hangover, Touch Me in the Morning and I Will Survive.
The international cast also featured Toni Braxton, Kirk Franklin, Keri Hilson, Gipsy King, Robzi Taylor Hugh Masekela, and Ziggy Marley.
Spain borrowing costs set to rise amid Greece fears
Spain's borrowing costs look set to spike on Thursday when the country's treasury sells up to 2.5bn euros (£2bn; $3.2bn) of three- and four-year sovereign bonds.
It could pay buyers about 5% on the longest bond - up from just over 4% at its last auction two weeks ago.
The auction comes amid fresh fears contagion from Greece could trigger a Spanish banking crisis.
Spain's prime minister says borrowing costs could become "astronomical".
Mariano Rajoy called on European leaders to publicly back highly indebted European countries and said debt levels would have to be brought down to bolster market confidence.
"All these measures are to get out of the hole we find ourselves in," he said on Wednesday.
Spain is in recession and unemployment is rising. Investors are concerned about the health of its public finances and banks.
Despite banking sector reform, borrowing costs have continued to rise.
Yields have risen significantly in secondary markets, suggesting the same will be true in the government auction.
Fracture
In the wake of inconclusive elections in Greece amid growing public resistance to submitting to more austerity, there are escalating fears that Greece will leave the euro.
The ensuing turmoil could force a more serious fracture of the currency union, watchers warn.
Spain currently has a record 24.4% of people out of work, at about 5.6 million.
Unemployment in the eurozone reached a record high again in March as spending cuts continued to hit the working population.
Spain and Italy are both in recession and the rising borrowing costs have sparked concerns that they may need help or even bailouts.
Bank governor warns of eurozone crisis 'storm'
The Bank of England has cut its growth forecast for this year to 0.8% from 1.2%, saying the eurozone "storm" is still the main threat to UK recovery.
The eurozone was "tearing itself apart" and the UK would not be "unscathed", said its governor Sir Mervyn King.
He also confirmed that the Bank has been making contingency plans for the break-up of the euro.
The rate of inflation will remain above the government's 2% target "for the next year or so", the Bank said.
Sir Mervyn was presenting the Bank's quarterly inflation report.
He told a news conference that the euro area posed the greatest threat to the UK recovery, and there was a "risk of a storm heading our way from the continent".
"We have been through a big global financial crisis, the biggest downturn in world output since the 1930s, the biggest banking crisis in this country's history, the biggest fiscal deficit in our peacetime history, and our biggest trading partner, the euro area, is tearing itself apart without any obvious solution.
"The idea that we could reasonably hope to sail serenely through this with growth close to the long-run average and inflation at 2% strikes me as wholly unrealistic," Sir Mervyn said.
A 'mess'
Andrew Balls, the managing director in London of global investment firm Pimco, said it was reasonable for Sir Mervyn and other policymakers to plan for a Greek exit.
"Yes, maybe they should plan for an exit, but the thing is, speculating about it can make the event more likely, so the Europeans really do have a mess there," he told the BBC.
"If Greece is to slide out of the euro and collapse, how are they going to protect Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy?"
Separately, Prime Minister David Cameron also spoke of the financial storm clouds across Europe, warning that eurozone leaders must act swiftly to solve its debt crisis or face the consequences of a potential break up.
He said during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons: "The eurozone has to make a choice. If the eurozone wants to continue as it is, then it has got to build a proper firewall, it has got to take steps to secure the weakest members of the eurozone, or it's going to have to work out it has to go in a different direction,
"It either has to make up or it is looking at a potential break up. That is the choice they have to make, and it is a choice they cannot long put off."
The Bank's report said, however, that the eurozone crisis was not the only issue weighing on the UK economy, with volatile energy and commodity costs, and the squeeze on household earnings also having an impact.
It all meant that the UK economy would not return to pre-financial crisis levels before 2014, Sir Mervyn said.
Nevertheless, he remained optimistic about the longer term. "We don't know when the storm clouds will move away. But there are good reasons to believe that growth will recover and inflation will fall back," he said.
On quantitative easing, he said that no decisions had been made whether or not to continue pumping money into the economy. The last stimulus programme was still "working its way through the system".
'Outlook is probably better'
Sir Mervyn's comments came on the day that official unemployment figures showed a fall in the jobless rate, underlining recent surveys that the private sector had become more confident about hiring labour.
He said the fall in joblessness was consistent with the expected gradual recovery in the UK economy.
But Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said of the Bank's report: "Talk about kicking an economy when it's down.
"On top of the euro crisis and a double-dip recession, the Bank of England is now saying inflation may not fall fast enough to permit more quantitative easing.
"Actually we think the inflation outlook is probably better than the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) thinks, with the impact of the euro crisis, declining real incomes and weak money supply growth suggesting inflationary pressures may recede later this year and into 2013.
"After many years of underestimating inflationary pressure let's hope the MPC is now making the opposite mistake by overestimating it".
Ed Balls, Labour's shadow chancellor, said: "The Bank of England has once again slashed its growth forecast for Britain, but despite this the government says it will just plough on regardless with policies that are hurting but not working.
"The governor is right to warn of a coming storm from Europe. That is why we warned George Osborne not to rip up the foundations of the house and choke off Britain's recovery with spending cuts and tax rises that go too far and too fast.
"What happens in the eurozone in the coming weeks and months will have an impact on our weakened economy," Mr Balls added.
Japan's economy grows 1.0% on rebuilding spending
Japan's economy grew 1.0% between January and March compared with the previous three months, as government spending helped fuel a gradual recovery from last year's earthquake and tsunami.
That translates to annualised growth of 4.1%, the Cabinet Office said.
A recovery in private consumption has also helped boost the economy.
However, analysts were still cautious about the future, as growth slowed in the US, Europe and China.
Reconstruction spending
"The data does not change the outlook for the economy," said Takeshi Minami, from Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.
"Consumer spending is proving robust but the key to sustainability for the economic recovery is whether or not exports regain strength."
The main drivers of growth were public investment and consumer spending, which analysts said were helped by extra budgets after the earthquake.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has pledged more than 20tn yen ($249bn; £156bn) on reconstruction.
"With government polices behind the quarterly growth, we can't say this is a reflection of real strength in the Japanese economy," said Yoshimasa Maruyama from Itochu Economic Research Institute in Tokyo.
Outpaced
The expansion in Japan, however, exceeded that of many major industrial nations. The US reported 2.2% annualised growth in the same three months.
Japan also outperformed Germany, Britain and France.
Martin Schultz from Fujitsu Research said the data out on Thursday had made him very optimistic for the year.
"We did know there is a huge amount of money for reconstruction but we didn't know how positive the impact is. We know now this is a positive," he said.
Greeks withdraw money from banks as worries grow
Greeks withdrew 700m euros ($894m; £560m) from the country's banks in the week ending on Monday, according to the Greek president.
The action comes as fears increase that the country may be forced out of the eurozone and on to a weaker currency.
Greece's president Karolos Papoulias revealed the outflows of cash in talks with rival political leaders.
He said the head of the Greek central bank had told him there was no panic yet, but that this could change.
Mr Papoulias said that the central bank governor, George Provopoulos, had said that the banks' situation was very difficult and that the banking system was currently very weak.
"Mr Provopoulos told me there was no panic, but there was great fear that could develop into a panic," the president was quoted as saying in minutes of the meetings with political leaders.
Uncertainty about the country's future has intensified after Greece's political parties failed to form a coalition government this week.
Recent elections saw votes widely split between parties, and another round of elections will now be held in June.
In February, former finance minister Evangelos Venizelos said Greeks had deposited 16bn euros overseas, including "32% in British banks and 10% in Swiss banks".
Toshiba stops domestic LCD TV production
Toshiba has halted production of LCD televisions in Japan due to falling demand, a spokesman has told the the BBC.
The producer of Regza brand TV sets said it had stopped operations at its only domestic manufacturing plant in Fukaya, Saitama Prefecture.
Toshiba has other LCD TV factories in Poland, Egypt, Indonesia and China.
Japanese electronics firms are struggling with a shrinking TV market and competition from South Korea.
Toshiba will hold a press conference at 1400 Tokyo time.
Robert F Kennedy Jr's estranged wife Mary dead
Robert F Kennedy Jr's estranged wife has been found dead at her home in New York state.
No cause of death had been released, but US media reported the 52-year-old had been discovered hanged.
In a statement, the family of the 52-year-old said her "radiant and creative spirit" would be sorely missed.
Mr Kennedy, a lawyer and radio host, is the nephew of President John F Kennedy and son of Senator Robert F Kennedy, both assassinated in the 1960s.
He was once divorced when he married the former Mary Richardson in 1994 in a ceremony aboard a boat on the Hudson river.
'Always kind'
The couple had four children over the 16 years of their marriage before he filed for divorce in 2010.
Mary Kennedy, an architect, had brushes with the law over drug and alcohol abuse, and was arrested twice for driving under the influence at about the time they separated.
"We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her," the family said in a statement issued by lawyer Kerry Lawrence, who had represented Mary Kennedy in a drink-driving case.
"Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation."
A neighbour, Leslie Lampert, told the Associated Press news agency that Kennedy was "community oriented" and "a lovely individual".
"She was always kind in our presence."
Police confirmed a body had been found on the Kennedys' property in Bedford, north of New York City, but would not release the name.
The incident was under investigation by the Bedford Police Department with assistance from the Westchester County Medical Examiner's Office. An autopsy is scheduled for Thursday.
US broadcaster ABC News cited a family member and other sources as saying Kennedy appeared to have hung herself. She was found inside a barn behind the family home, according to the New York Daily News.
Diamond Jubilee: Spain's Queen Sofia cancels UK visit
Queen Sofia of Spain has cancelled a visit to the UK to mark Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee because of disputes over Gibraltar.
A Spanish government statement said it was "hardly appropriate" for Queen Sofia, 73, to attend a lunch on Friday.
The UK and Spain have been in dispute over fishing rights off Gibraltar, a UK territory which Spain also claims.
Spain has also protested over a visit to Gibraltar by Queen Elizabeth's son Prince Edward and his wife Sophie.
The prince and the Countess of Wessex are to visit Gibraltar on 11-13 June as part of the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen's reign.
Complaint
Spain continues to claim sovereignty over Gibraltar, which has been ruled by Britain since 1713 under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht.
Queen Sofia's husband, King Juan Carlos, had already declined his invitation to the lunch at Windsor Castle on Friday.
He is recovering from surgery last month after he fell and broke his hip while hunting elephants in Botswana.
In 1981, the Spanish royal couple declined an invitation to Prince Charles' wedding to Diana, Princess of Wales because they planned to visit Gibraltar as part of their honeymoon.
And a visit by Princess Anne to Gibraltar in 2009 sparked an official complaint from the Spanish government.
An additional cause of unhappiness for the Spanish royal household is the fact that the British regimental band of Gibraltar will be performing at the Diamond Jubilee, reports the Spanish news agency Efe.
A spokesman for the UK Foreign Office told the AFP news agency: "The visit was a private commitment and we don't comment on private visits."
Mladic trial: Prosecution to focus on Srebrenica massacre
A war crimes trial of former Bosnian Serb army commander Ratko Mladic is to resume, with the prosecution focusing on the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.
Gen Mladic is accused of orchestrating the killings of more than 7,000 Bosnian Muslim boys and men in the town.
In all, the 70-year-old faces 11 charges, including genocide, during the brutal 1992-95 Bosnian war.
He calls the claims "monstrous", and the court in The Hague has entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
The Srebrenica massacre was the worst atrocity in Europe since the end of World War II.
Serb fighters overran the enclave in eastern Bosnia - supposedly under the protection of Dutch UN peacekeepers. Bosniak (Bosnian Muslim) men and boys were separated off, shot dead and bulldozed into mass graves - later to be dug up and reburied in more remote spots.
Gen Mladic is also charged in connection with the 44-month siege of Sarajevo during which more than 10,000 people died.
'Criminal endeavour'
On the first day of the trial on Wednesday, the prosecution at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) argued that Gen Mladic intended to "ethnically cleanse" Bosnia.
It opened the hearing with an audio-visual presentation laying out the case.
Prosecuting counsel Dermot Groome said they would prove Gen Mladic's hand in the crimes.
"Four days ago marked two decades since Ratko Mladic became the commander of the main staff of the army of Republika Srpska - the VRS," he said.
Mr Groome said that by the time Gen Mladic and his troops had "murdered thousands in Srebrenica", they were "well-rehearsed in the craft of murder".
He then showed judges video of the aftermath of a notorious shelling of a market in the Bosnian capital Sarajevo, in which dozens of people died.
Mr Groome said there was "no doubt" that Gen Mladic had controlled the shelling of Sarajevo. He had promised that the city would shake, the prosecutor said.
Mr Groome said the attacks were part of an "overarching" plan to ethnically cleanse non-Serbs from parts of Bosnia.
He said crimes of sexual violence had played an integral part of the process of "taking over and ethnically cleansing Bosnia".
The prosecution also highlighted the role of snipers in Sarajevo, showing images of a child shot dead on a street and pictures taken from sniper nests overlooking the besieged city.
Prosecution 'errors'
During the proceedings, members of the Mothers of Srebrenica group held a vigil outside the court.
Judicial authorities have rejected defence calls to delay proceedings, most recently a petition to have Dutch Judge Orie replaced on grounds of alleged bias.
However, even as the trial began, there were further indications it would be delayed.
Judge Orie said the court was considering postponing the presentation of evidence - due to start on 29 May - due to "errors" by the prosecution in disclosing evidence to the defence.
Mr Groome said he would not oppose a "reasonable adjournment".
Gen Mladic spent 15 years on the run before being apprehended by Serb forces last May and sent to The Hague.
The number of crimes of which he stands accused has been almost halved to speed up his trial.
'Our hero'
Gen Mladic is accused of committing genocide and other crimes against Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims) and Bosnian Croats in a campaign of ethnic cleansing that began in 1992 and climaxed in Srebrenica.
Pre-trial hearings have been characterised by ill-tempered outbursts from Gen Mladic, who has heckled the judge and interrupted proceedings.
"The whole world knows who I am," he said at a hearing last year.
"I am General Ratko Mladic. I defended my people, my country... now I am defending myself."
The case has stirred up strong emotions among watching survivors, with some shouting "murderer" and "killer" from the court gallery.
However, while Gen Mladic's critics consider him a butcher, to some Serbs he is a national hero.
Gen Mladic suffered at least one stroke while in hiding and remains in frail health.
The architect of the Balkan wars, former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, died in detention in his cell in 2006, before receiving a verdict.
BBC
US Senate Rejects 5 Different Budget Plans
As expected, the U.S. Senate Wednesday rejected five separate budget plans for 2013, including one that mirrors a budget blueprint offered by President Barack Obama.
The lawmakers unanimously turned down the plan submitted by Republicans and based on the president's budget, 99-to-zero. Mr. Obama's Democratic Party called the vote a political stunt, saying it was unnecessary since last year's deal to raise the debt ceiling contained spending caps.
The chamber also rejected four other proposals submitted by Republicans.
The votes followed a day of debate in which senators from both sides accused each other of being irresponsible when it comes to government spending and cutting the deficit.
The Republican plans are meant to highlight the fact that the majority Democrats have not come up with a budget plan of their own.
Some Democrats have criticized their party for the failure to produce a budget. But others argue that last year's debt-limit agreement, the law known as the Budget Control Act, erases the need for a separate budget resolution.
With the upcoming November presidential election, pressure is building on lawmakers and the Obama administration to curb a crippling trillion-dollar budget gap and decrease the $15 trillion national debt.