Cuba has described as a great insult, a US Supreme Court decision not to consider an appeal by five convicted Cuban spies.

	Ricardo Alarcon favours talks but calls US "an ignorant lion"

However officials on the island say the decision won't jeopardise upcoming negotiations with Washington.

The head of the Cuban parliament, Ricardo Alarcon said no date had been set for immigration talks with the United States.

But he indicated that the Raul Castro-led government in Havana hoped to expand the agenda to include environmental issues, efforts against terrorism, drug smuggling and natural disasters.

Ocean Dream heads for Aruba

Swine flu hit Spanish cruise ship Ocean Dream was heading Thursday for Aruba.

Earlier reports had suggested that the ship, with 14 suspected cases, had been quarantined in Venezuela.

But the vessel's Spanish owner has since said that it is heading for Aruba where the passengers will disembark.

A company official said 342 Venezuelan passengers got off at the Venezuelan island of Margarita because that was their final destination.

The ship's more than 1200 passengers and crew had been prevented from disembarking at previous stops in Barbados and Grenada.

Assessing economic union dialogue

The proposed economic union of the Organisation Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is a key agenda item OECS heads of government and ministers of finance expect to discuss at a meeting in St Vincent and the Grenadines on Friday.

	OECS heads will assess progress made on proposed economic union

The OECS Economic Union proposal has been the subject of ongoing consultations in member states in the sub-region for the past several months.

The joint meeting of the OECS Authority and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Monetary Council is also expected to examine the effects of strategies aimed at cushioning the impact of the global economic crisis on member states.

CTO warns against tax

British parliamentarians have been told by the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) that the UK's proposed increases in air passenger duty will hurt Caribbean tourism.

That message is being drummed home in the British capital London, by the CTO's interim Secretary General Hugh Riley.

Mr Riley has been meeting with members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords, explaining the kind of effect the CTO fears the proposed increases will have on Caribbean tourism.

"We believe that it will erode the competitiveness of the Caribbean," the CTO official said of the tax to be imposed from November on Caribbean and other long haul flights out of the UK.

He said the measure would have a negative effect on airline tickets to the Caribbean, and that the impact would be felt in tourist destinations in the region.

Former priest marries

A charismatic preacher and religious celebrity in Miami has married his girlfriend following a scandal in which he was photographed cuddling a woman on a Florida beach.

	The Roman Catholic Church insists on celibacy

The former Roman Catholic priest well known locally as Padre Alberto, left the Catholic Church last month after the photos scandal stoked debate over the Catholic celibacy requirement for priests.

His superiors in the Roman Catholic Church relieved him of his duties at St Francis de Sales parish in Miami Beach over the scandal.

He announced soon afterwards that he was entering the Episcopal Church, which allows married priests.

40 year old Alberto Cutie was born in Puerto Rico of Cuban parents.