Regional News

(Barbados Nation) After 176 days of fighting for the right to be a father to his child, the effort has paid off for a 31-year-old Guyanese man.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – It was billed as a late-night party at Kingston Harbour, but the boat never left the dock, as a barrage of bullets brought the session to its premature end.

Call for regional banking regulation The Governor of the Barbados Central Bank has urged that a regional regulatory system for the financial sector be put in place.

(Trinidad Express) – It was the season for multiple wins as the National Carnival Commission (NCC) announced the winners of Carnival 2009 at the new VIP lounge at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port of Spain, yesterday.

SANTO DOMINGO, (Reuters) – The Dominican Republic  canceled an Independence Day military parade amid public outrage  over scandals linking soldiers and police to crime and drug  trafficking.

The Barbados government is setting up a seven and a half million US dollar fund as a buffer for its tourism industry to cope with the global financial crisis.

(Jamaica Observer) – A businessman in his 60s could be slapped with more than 20 counts of incest and indecent assault following his arrest on Tuesday on allegations that he had been molesting his three young daughters.

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Three sons of a former boss of Colombia’s Cali drug cartel have been arrested along with more than 20 other people on charges of money laundering, authorities said yesterday.

– pilot accused of $5m customs breach (Jamaica Gleaner) – Airline crew should now expect to go through regular searches at the island’s two international airports as the Customs Department implements more stringent measures placing them under the microscope.

(Trinidad Guardian) – Not even dark skies and intermittent showers could damper the spirits and waistlines of thousands of masqueraders who went out on Tuesday to celebrate Carnival.

CORUMBA, Brazil, (Reuters) – Jaguars still roam the  world’s largest wetland and endangered Hyacinth Macaws nest in  its trees but advancing farms and industries are destroying  Brazil’s Pantanal region at an alarming rate.

(Barbados Nation) The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised serious questions about the supervision of Barbados’ insurance sector.

(Jamaica Observer) HATFIELD, Westmoreland – Shelly-Ann Gordon was looking forward to her 14th birthday this Thursday.

HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Mutual funds that are not held  in custodial Stanford Finan-cial Group accounts should be  released from a court-ordered asset freeze, an attorney  overseeing the company’s affairs and assets said in a  statement on Monday.

KEY WEST, Florida (Reuters) – Packed with cocaine and grimly christened “coffins,” sleek jungle-built submarines are steaming their way north from Colombia through Pacific waters to deliver tons of illegal drugs headed for the US market.

(Trinidad Express) Fay-Ann Lyons Alvarez created history in the dawn of Sunday when she became the first female International Power Soca Monarch ever, soundly beating her husband, defending monarch Bunji Garlin into second place.

(Trinidad Guardian) – A Trinidadian national, a naturalised American citizen, was shot dead in Port-of-Spain on Sunday morning, all because he wined on another man’s girlfriend.

(Jamaica Observer) – The weekly Sunday Herald newspaper has been taken over by a group of investors headed by the Rev Garnett Roper, who hope to salvage the latest journal headed for Jamaica’s fearsome newspaper graveyard.

(Antigua Sun) – LIAT has cleared the air on its ownership, debunking suggestions that it is owned by Sir Allen Stanford.

Antiguan Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer will today advise Governor General Dame Louise Lake-Tack to reconvene a sitting of the House of Representatives to discuss the crisis sparked by charges in the US against billionaire Allen Stanford, a statement from the PM’s office said on Friday.