Regional News

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The United States yesterday imposed visa restrictions on more than 250 members of the Nicaraguan government and levied sanctions on three Nicaraguan entities in retaliation for “repressive actions” and a failure to stem migrant smuggling through the Central American country.

WASHINGTON/HAVANA,  (Reuters) – The U.S. removed Cuba from a short list of countries the United States alleges are “not cooperating fully” in its fight against terrorism, a State Department official said yesterday.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Brazil’s Petrobras PETR4.SA announced the exit of its CEO and chief financial officer yesterday, and shares tumbled on news that a former regulator with views closer those of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will take the helm of the state-run oil firm.

SANTIAGO, (Reuters) – Chileans are bundling up with more clothes and clutching cups of hot coffee as the country faces the most intense cold snap in nearly 70 years, bringing winter weather in the middle of autumn.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, (Reuters) – Brazil’s southernmost state capital may suffer severe flooding for weeks to come, experts warn, compounding the struggles of half a million people forced to abandon their inundated homes.

(Trinidad Express) The body of 16-year-old Sourav Nanan was found in Sangre Grande yesterday.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police officer and drag racing enthusiast Dale ‘Rug Rat’ Mayers died after he was shot while at a bar in Longdenville, Chaguanas on Monday night.

(Trinidad Express) A police constable was shot and killed last night in Chaguanas.

(Trinidad Guardian) While the owners of the barge and tug that caused the oil spill in Tobago haven’t been located just yet, Government has been contacted by a Nigerian lawyer representing the purported owners.

(Trinidad Guardian) The T&T Police Service (TTPS) and the Strategic Services Agency (SSA) are investigating the discovery of illegal CCTV cameras mounted by gangs to monitor police stations, says National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds.

(Trinidad Guardian) A 36-year-old bank worker was ambushed and shot several times yesterday afternoon as she arrived home from work.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Two brothers were shot and killed while playing a game of dominoes at a shop in the community of Burnt Savannah in Westmoreland on Saturday night.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (Reuters) – Less than two weeks after floods devastated Brazil’s southern Rio Grande do Sul state leaving at least 143 dead, the state is again on alert this Sunday with the risk of water rising once more to record levels.

MEXICO CITY/GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck near the coast of Chiapas in Mexico on Sunday morning, the United States Geological Survey said.

TORONTO (Reuters) – A fourth person has been arrested and charged with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, Canadian police said on Saturday, in a case that strained diplomatic relations with India.

(Jamaica Gleaner) More trouble is brewing involving the will of late business mogul Gordon ‘Butch’ Stewart, after the Sandals hotel group delayed a final cash payment of more than J$6 billion to a group of mostly elderly beneficiaries.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – The death toll from heavy rains in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state rose to 143, the local civil defense government body said today, up from 136 in the previous day, while another 125 people remain unaccounted for.

(Trinidad Guardian) Hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of electronic equipment, including CCTV cameras and wireless routers used by the criminal element to monitor law enforcement agents, have been discovered illegally mounted on utility poles in the North Central Division (NCD).

(Trinidad Express) The Telecommunications Au¬thority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) has found that radio station Trinibashment 91.9 FM, owned by soca artist Neil “Iwer” George, had acted in breach of its concession by allowing inciteful and degrading statements to be made against a High Court judge that had the potential of bringing the Judiciary into disrepute.

(Trinidad Guardian) Just under a year after it bucked the trend on flour price increases, Nutrimix is once again announcing a reduction in the prices of its flour products.