A veteran Florida police officer was shot and killed while on duty early yesterday by a man described as transient, according to law enforcement officials, who gave no motive for the suspect now charged with murder.

Former media baron and convicted fraudster Conrad Black was “harshly punished” and his sentence should be commuted by President George Bush, a leading US newspaper said today.

Former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega was denied early release from a Florida prison, despite a letter from a judge saying the 70-year-old former general had spent enough time behind bars.