Regional News

(BBC) The man spearheading a closer union of the Eastern Caribbean has taken another dig at what might be regarded as its parent.

(Jamaica Observer) The one-day trip to Cuba last Thursday that ended in a swirl of controversy involving former prime minister P J Patterson was a proactive attempt by telecoms giant Digicel to secure a phone service carrier contract between Jamaica and Cuba, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

Curacao votes to accept Dutch conditions for ‘country status’ Voters in Curacao have chosen to accept the conditions under which the island will form a new constitutional relationship with Holland.

(Trinidad Express) President George Maxwell Richards is not resigning. He will not subject the country to any constitutional crisis by creating a vacuum in the Office of the President, as is being called for by some persons (who have been calling for his resignation).

(Trinidad Express) Finance Minister Karen Nunez-Tesheira says Clico is now back on its feet following government’s intervention to save the cash-strapped subsidiary of the CL Financial Group.

GUATEMALA CITY, (Reuters) – Guatemala’s president  said yesterday powerful enemies are behind a scandal about  claims he ordered the murder of a prominent lawyer, as his  government cracked down on military abuses and drug gangs.

(Trinidad Express)In a bid to find out what went wrong at the country’s largest conglomerate, the Central Bank has quietly retained the services of ace forensic investigator Robert Lindquist to sift through the tangled records of financially troubled insurance giant, Clico, to determine whether it was a case of bad judgment or corporate malfeasance.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – Several Jamaicans are said to be among 8 people arrested in the United Kingdom for their involvement in an international money laundering ring.

Two bid for airline Two offers have been made for Air Jamaica, a government minister has said.

(Jamaica Observer) – Karen Facey who tricked a Cayman national who she met via the internet, into believing that she was a beauty queen and a real estate agent and as a result collected $250,000, to buy an apartment, was remanded in custody when she showed up at the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.

(Trinidad Guardian) – Shots were fired and tear gas thrown as residents and police clashed at Picton Road, Laventille, on Tuesday.

(Trinidad Express) – Rio Claro‘s most wanted, Peter Garcia, the man police have blamed for single-handedly having Agostini Village under siege, surrendered to homicide detectives on Tuesday.

Referendum please The Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands has called for a referendum on the restoration of British rule.

LONDON (Reuters) – A sexually suggestive Venus figurine with oversized breasts and thighs dates back at least 35,000 years and shows ancient humans had sex on their minds, researchers said today.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro  accused Mexico’s government of not revealing an outbreak of  H1N1 flu during a visit by U.S.

(Trinidad Express) A tremendous new wave of industrial activity would be generated in Trinidad and Tobago when it gets through the present economic slowdown, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said on Monday.

(Nassau Guardian) Nassau – Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham has introduced three bills in the House of Assembly that seek to reform the insurance sector in the wake of the collapse of CLICO Bahamas.

(Trinidad Guardian) – Officers of the Homicide Bureau are investigating five murders which took place between Friday and Sunday.

Crisis summit coming It was announced at the weekend that Caricom leaders will hold a special summit in Trinidad later this month devoted to the international economic downturn.

Lethem attracting interest (Trinidad Guardian) Repub-lic Bank chairman Ronald Harford and Barbadian billionaire Kyffin Simpson were at the forefront of an international team of investors who visited Boa Vista city in the north of Brazil last week, media sources in that country said on Friday.