Former Nevis Premier Vance Amory has lost his case challenging the legality of the Commission of Inquiry set up to look into the operations of his former Concerned Citizens Movement administration.
High Court judge Ianthea Leigertwood Octave on Wednesday dismissed the claims brought against the Commission by Amory. The former Premier had alleged that the commission was biased and unconstitutional.
The ruling has cleared the way for the resumption of the inquiry being conducted by sole Commissioner Thomas Sharpe.
Floods claim three Haitian lives
A landslide and flooding in Haiti caused by heavy rains have left three people dead and four others missing.
Haiti’s civil protection service said the three were killed in the collapse of their home which was swept away in a landslide in Carrefour, a neighbourhood south of the capital Port au Prince. Haitian authorities said five houses had been destroyed and more than 500 damaged by the torrential rain.
Cuban rum for the US market
A top rum executive in Cuba says the island is ready to ship one million cases of rum to the United States if Washington eases its 47-year-old embargo.
Juan Gonsalez said however, that Cuba would hold off exporting its flagship Havana Club brand because of US trademark battles. Gonsalez, the Vice President of the communist state’s rum production monopoly Cuba Ron Sa, said US trade sanctions have cost the island’s rum industry $95 million annually in lost sales and additional spending to import production materials. Cuban rums can’t be sold in the United States.
But Juan Gonsalez said they are available in more than 120 countries.
Bermuda and Aruba sign agreement
Bermuda’s Minister of Finance Paula Cox has announced that the territory has concluded a bilateral agreement with Aruba that provides for a full exchange of information on criminal and civil tax matters.
The agreement is the 18th that Bermuda has signed.
Cox said it further demonstrated the island’s commitment to substantially implement internationally agreed tax rules.
Meanwhile pharmaceutical company Warner Chilcott is the latest multi-national giant seeking to relocate from Bermuda.
The group plans to move to Ireland as a result of changes to US tax laws proposed by President Obama.
