Regional News

No plans to change laws Prime Minister of the Bahamas Hubert Ingraham says his government is not planning to change its offshore banking laws, even though it will comply with international tax regulations. 

(Antigua Sun) – Minister of Tourism John Maginley, President of the Antigua and Barbuda Cruise Tourism Association Nathan Dundas and Director of the Antigua Pier Group (APG) Conrad Pole are expected to meet representatives from Carnival Cruise Line today in Miami, Florida.

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s government is facing rising criticism at home over its handling of the Honduran crisis as senior lawmakers accuse it of allowing the ousted president to use its embassy as a political platform.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – The financial crisis facing the Government has caused Prime Minister Bruce Golding to cut his foreign trips to a bare minimum.

Slow economic growth predicted The Grenada economy is not expected to grow again until 2011.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – US President Barack Obama has not fulfilled his promises to change US foreign policy and may not be fully in control of the government, Cuba’s foreign minister told the United Nations yesterday.

(Barbados Nation) – A newborn baby found abandoned in a plastic bag on Fitts Village Beach, St James, on Saturday is doing well at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

(Trinidad Express) – No one saw the gunman who wounded a Guyanese national outside a bar in Princes Town on Saturday night.

Call for G20 to consider poor countries Barbados’ Prime Minister David Thompson has called for the Caribbean’s concerns to be taken on board by rich countries seeking to turn around the global financial crisis.

TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) – The de facto government of  Honduras denied entry yesterday to an Organization of American  States delegation as tensions mounted with Brazil, which has  given refuge to ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

PM tells UN General Assembly (Trinidad Express) The rising crime that is currently affecting Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean region has been caused by the loss of preferential markets for the export of bananas and sugar, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said on Saturday.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Embattled Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Member of Parliament, Joseph Hibbert, said he was not contemplating stepping down as Member of Parliament (MP) in the wake of fresh allegations that he received more than £100,000 from British bridge-building company, Mabey and Johnson Limited.

(Trinidad Express) Attorney General John Jeremie told the Senate on Friday night that he is “not going to abuse Parliamentary privilege” by naming the former chief legal officer whose error he claimed had cost the country $1 billion.

(Barbados Nation) Finger-printing at the Grantley Adams International Airport is not mandatory, says government.

– defence surprised, parents hope for the best (Jamaica Gleaner) – Young Dominique Fray wept uncontrollably for her brother and attorney George Thomas seemed listless, shocked and disappointed by the guilty verdict that was slapped on his client, convicted hijacker Stephen Fray, in the Western Regional Gun Court on Thursday.

(Trinidad Express) – “The only peace is rest in peace!”  These were the words uttered by the mother of Travis “Wet Money” Breedy on Thursday, as his lifeless body lay face-up mere inches away from a drain on George Street, Port of Spain, one day after warring gangs signed a “peace treaty”.

DomRep eyes IMF agreement The Dominican President, Leonel Fernandez, says his government is likely to finalise a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next two to three weeks.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez hopes to widen anti-US alliances when he hosts African leaders on a Caribbean island this weekend, but his radicalism and Brazil’s greater economic clout put limits on his appeal.

Trinidad to push snooping law The Trinidad and Tobago government plans to introduce legislation to allow for the tapping of telephone conversations.

(Trinidad Guardian) – The State has to pay the Sanatan Dharma Maha Sabha, which operates Central Broadcasting Services Ltd, close to $3 million in damages for its unequal treatment and delay in granting them a FM radio broadcasting licence.