SmallShop Caribbean News

Strike hurting Haitian hospital: South Florida Sun-Sentinel : "PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti A two-week strike by janitors and support staff has forced Haiti's largest hospital to turn away patients, officials said Thursday. Doctors and nurses are not taking part in the protest, but say garbage piling up inside Port-au-Prince's General Hospital has made it impossible to practice medicine. 'We can't even use the operating room due to the garbage and unhealthy conditions,' Dr. Dezard Ulick said."

Joint Operation Rum Punch bites into Caribbean drug flow - International Herald Tribune : "SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic: A quadrupling of incoming suspected drug flights in the past two years has forced Haiti and the Dominican Republic to face up to the fact that the island they share is a major transshipment point for cocaine bound to U.S. and European consumers. An estimated 94 tons of cocaine was sent from Venezuela over the Caribbean to the island in the six months ending in March of this year, when U.S., Dominican and Haitian forces launched 'Operation Rum Punch' to counter the surge. Officials say it has already scared off some airborne smugglers."

Trinicenter.com - What are Caribbean Govts' Views on Zimbabwe? : "Despite the government of Trinidad and Tobago's 'security concerns' in relation to Zimbabwe, the West Indies Cricket team is currently in London, remaining there even during the inundation of reported attempted bombings. London has a history of sordid bombings and 'terrorist activities' but I am sure the government of Trinidad and Tobago has no concerns about the players' safety there. If so, they have certainly remained publicly silent about them. Their duplicity is grossly obvious in their dealings with African nations as opposed to White nations. The Government and the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) are clearly supporting Britain, Australia, the US and other White-controlled institutions that are attempting to isolate Zimbabwe."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : : "JOHNATHAN SMITH, 11, who copped top place among male students in this year’s SEA exam and whose score was the second best overall in the country, has called on boys to step up to the challenge of performing better in examinations in an effort to be on par with their female counterparts."

Antigua Sun : "Relatives of a 70-year-old man found murdered yesterday are calling on police to swiftly identify and arrest the killer. The body of retired police officer Glentis Emanuel Walker was found lying in the yard of the Moravian Church Eastern West Indies Provincial Headquarters at 6:30 a.m. yesterday. He had multiple wounds to his head. The first floor of the church had been broken into and ransacked. The Antigua Sun understands that a plank of wood was found near to the body and is suspected to have been the murder weapon. "

Jamaica Gleaner News - Schoolboy slain - Man also killed in Tarrant shooting, student knifed - Saturday June 30, 2007 : "Just one week before the end of the school year, another student's life has been brutally snuffed out. An area adjacent to the Tarrant High School, St. Andrew, was the scene of a shooting yesterday which took the lives of 15-year-old Gary Pierce, a student of the school and Donovan McLean, a construction worker of a Tarrant Drive address. Another individual who was present and said to be a student of the Haile Selassie High School in Kingston was hospitalised, nursing stab wounds."

The Nassau Guardian : "The president and chief pilot of Golden Wings Charter, Cameron Roach, said he still does not know what caused one of his planes to crash on Wednesday. In fact, Roach said his fleet had just undergone a major inspection a few days ago and he is therefore baffled as to what could have gone wrong. 'We are required by law with both the local government and US government to do routine checks,' Roach said. 'And we can assure you that all of our planes have been checked so all the maintenance has been done on time and it was just last week that we had a major inspection from one of the major authorities and nothing was found to be incorrect with our maintenance or our operations.' "

St. Lucia Star Online : "Police Superintendent Peter Davis spent most of Monday combing the Grande Riviere home of Marcia Philbert-Jules, who had been discovered in a pool of blood that morning. Jules was taken to the hospital but succumbed to her injuries. The murder has shocked the small community of Piat. Sad and angry neighbors crowded the area Monday morning, each asking each other if they had heard anything unusual. It was also reported that Jules’ Honda Civic was stolen." Updated Jamaica Gleaner CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC): St. Lucia police have arrested and charged a 15-year-old youth in connection with the murder of senior public servant Marcia Philbert-Jules who was found lying in a pool of blood at her residence at Grand Riviere, north of here on Monday. Police said that Philbert-Jules, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Planning and Development, had been stabbed several times and died shortly after being admitted to hospital.

Dozens of students march against corruption : "Young people want to be able to grow up on an island where their voices are heard. This was the message from a group of about 60 placard-waving protestors who gathered outside the House of Assembly to greet MPs today. The teenagers, several of them draped in Bermuda flags, voiced their concern about the 'negative' political direction in which they feel Bermuda is heading. Despite not being old enough to vote, five teenage girls organized today's bi-partisan protest through the website Facebook."

BBCCaribbean.com Caribbean needs to act now on Brown : "Britain remains of sufficient importance to countries of the Caribbean that many of them will be deeply interested in how the change of Prime Minister from Tony Blair to Gordon Brown will affect them."

Jamaica Gleaner News - No money, honey! - Most Jamaicans oppose alimony payments to men - Friday June 29, 2007 : "Two years after the passage of legislation providing for the payment of alimony (or palimony) to men upon the dissolution of a marriage or equivalent relationship, a substantial majority of Jamaicans remain opposed to it. In the latest Bill Johnson poll, done for The Gleaner, 65 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to the man receiving alimony. Only 30 per cent expressed support for this provision, while five per cent did not express an opinion either way."

Cuba takes steps to spruce up tourism appeal - New Zealand's source for travel news on Stuff.co.nz : "Cuba has adopted a series of measures to improve the tourism industry's competitive position in the Caribbean and reverse a two-year slide in visitors, state-media has reported. 'Today the ministry is working on new investments and repairing hotels of historic interest in the cities,' Minister Manuel Marrero toldparliament deputies on Tuesday, the Communist Party newspaper Granma reported. "

Sir George condemns Caribbean society for stigmatising HIV victims - CBC.bb : "The United Nations special envoy on HIV and AIDS in the Caribbean is blaming members of society for undiagnosed HIV patients. Sir George Alleyne was speaking at a forum focusing on inclusion and human sexuality in the context of HIV/AIDS. He believes persons who think they are HIV positive are afraid to be tested because of the way in which society reacts. "

bizjournals.com Business News: Delta adds flights to Caribbean and Central America - MSN Money : "Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL) is continuing its growth out of New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport with five new nonstop flights to Central America and the Caribbean"

Advocate : "Broadening of the burden and the reduction of the high cost for regional travel will be high among the list of priorities for the Heads of Government Conference set to begin next week. This was disclosed by Secretary General of CARICOM Edwin Carrington in a press briefing yesterday, at the CSME Unit at the Central Bank of Barbados. Speaking to journalists from across the region via video conference, Carrington said, 'I think that both issues are equally important. The skyrocketing cost is important for all of us, but the issue of the burden being carried by a number of regional governments is also important. "

The Trinidad Guardian : "EDUCATION MINISTER Hazel Manning says more female pupils of primary schools in T&T were excelling in the Secondary Entrance Assessment (SEA) than their male counterparts. She based her statement on the 2007 SEA results, which were released to primary schools yesterday. "

The Nation Newspaper Killers back in court : "Years after their crimes, a cop killer, a murderous father and a man whose mother died at his hands are to be resentenced. They are among a group of men, all currently locked away indefinitely in prison or the Psychiatric Hospital, who will be brought back to court in the coming months to have their punishment reviewed. "

guyanachronicle.com : "A MAN wanted by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for extradition to the U.S., was held by Guyana Police in a house at La Grange, West Bank Demerara last night. Police said ranks of the Guyana Police Force conducted an operation on the West Bank Demerara and at about 18:00h arrested Terrence Sugrim, 42, in a house at Middle Dam, La Grange. Terrence Sugrim is wanted by the police on a provisional arrest warrant issued in Georgetown in a matter of request for extradition "

Jamaica Gleaner News - Quarrie lauds Bolt's record run - Friday June 29, 2007 : "LEGENDARY JAMAICAN sprinter Donald Quarrie, who won Olympic 200-metre gold in 1976, has praised Usain Bolt's remarkable victory in the half-lap sprint at the Jamaica National Championships, last weekend. The 20-year-old Bolt ran a personal best and Caribbean record 19.75 to win the men's 200m, erasing Quarrie's previous national record of 19.86 seconds that stood for 36 years."

Stabroek News : "A Guyanese businessman whose office was allegedly used as a meeting room by the JFK airport terror plot suspects is being sought by the police and agents of the US Federal Bureau of investigation, informed sources have told this newspaper. Stabroek News understands that the man, who had an office on Avenue of the Republic, had meetings with the FBI informant as well as the other alleged players in the plot to blow up fuel tanks that feed the JFK Airport in New York. "

Highway carnage - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM : "OCHO ROS, St Ann - The driver and four of his passengers were killed and 13 others injured yesterday afternoon when a Toyota Hiace minibus plying the Brown's Town to Ocho Rios route slammed into a truck along the Llandovery main road here in St Ann. Four of the dead were last night identified as:"

The Nation Newspaper THREE FREE : "THREE OF THE MIDDLEMEN who gave the orders that resulted in the execution of former prime minister Maurice Bishop and some of his cabinet colleagues were released from jail yesterday after serving 23-1/2 years for their part in the October 1983 killings. It was just after 4:30 p.m. when former army officers Chris Stroude (major), Lester Redhead (captain) and Cecil Prime (first lieutenant), walked out of the Richmond Hill Prison to cheers from a few family members and friends. "

Jamaica Gleaner News - 'He was the best boy in the world - my prize boy!' - As mother laments losing cop son to gunmen, another wants to join force - Wednesday June 27, 2007 : "One of her three sons was shot and killed by gunmen in October last year. According to Claudette Reid, she tried her best, but could not get her son to change his mind about joining the police force. At age 20, he shelved his dream of becoming a meteorologist and a year later, he was murdered, after serving just one year in the police force."

, Jihad from the Caribbean Salon News : "For Yasin Abu Bakr, the 65-year-old leader of the Muslim sect Jamaat al Muslimeen in Trinidad and Tobago, the timing couldn't have been worse. On Monday, June 11, Bakr headed to the Hall of Justice in Port-of-Spain, the capital of the Caribbean island nation, to start his trial on sedition charges stemming from a sermon he gave in 2005. That same day three men accused of plotting to sabotage New York's JFK International Airport and arrested in Trinidad appeared at an extradition hearing a block away from the Hall of Justice in Magistrate's Court. "

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt : : "THERE was drama inside the courtroom at the Trade Centre, Grande Anse, Grenada yesterday when the son of a former Grenada minister who was shot dead along with Grenada PM Maurice Bishop in 1983, filled a cup of water, walked up to the dock and threw the water on Callistus Bernard – the man identified as the executioner."

Caribbean Net News: Castro charges Bush ordered him killed before he took office : "Castro, who claims to hold a sort of world record in evading assassination plots, at some 650 in his count, recalled in an opinion piece in the Cuban Communist Party newspaper that he reported the alleged plot publicly on August 5, 2000 in a speech in Pinar del Rio. Of all the US presidents since 1959, Castro said Jimmy Carter (1977-1981) ordered no hit, and that he had no knowledge of former president Bill Clinton (1993-2001) ever having given a green light for a Castro assassination bid. "

Secret CIA files show a kill-Castro disastro : "WASHINGTON - In the botched attempt to put a hit on Cuban President Fidel Castro, the best the CIA could come up with for the job was a Mafia loser who got busted trying to rig gin rummy games at the Friars Club. The government's recruitment of mob figure Johnny Roselli in the 1960s for a 'sensitive mission requiring gangster-type action' was outlined in a secret-document dump yesterday on illegal CIA bugging and spying in the U.S. from 1959-73."

The Nation Newspaper Rihanna: Some Bajans hate me : "Bajan sensation Rihanna feels 'hated' by more than a few Barbadians. And she has told this to the world via a popular entertainment magazine, stressing that despite her efforts to highlight this country in her music videos and interviews, many Barbadians still reacted negatively to her. In an interview last Saturday with the United States-based Entertainment Weekly magazine, she stated, when asked if fellow Bajans in the country of her birth were happy for her, that 'a lot of them hate me but a lot of them love me'. "

The Nation Newspaper STICK WITH US! : "NEAL & MASSY Holdings has described the Ansa McAl intention to bid for Barbados Shipping & Trading Company (BS&T) shares as a hostile move and intends to continue full steam ahead to merge with the Barbadian company. In a surprise move last Friday, Ansa McAl said it wanted to purchase BS&T stock as an alternative option to the recently announced merger proposed by Neal & Massy. "

Trinidad Express, : "TWO murder accused were freed yesterday because the main witness failed to 'remember' what happened. It was the second time in a week that murder cases have collapsed because of the failure of witnesses to recall what happened. "

The Trinidad Guardian - : "GARY HODGES was inconsolable yesterday, when he found out that his brother Hayden was trapped in a raging fire at his new workplace—V&S Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a drugs distribution company in Tunapuna. Hodges had to be restrained as he ran towards the burning two-storey building where Hayden was reported “missing” after all other employees had evacuated. His mother Veronica was equally distraught, and appeared angry that no one had helped her son escape the fury of the flames. "

Antigua Sun : "More than a dozen road workers from Cuba will soon join the 39 already in Antigua, as the Ministry of Public Works seeks to intensify road construction outside of the city. The ministry has resumed work on roads throughout the island and while it continues to utilise a number of private contractors to carry out some of the repairs and construction, Director of Works Charlesworth “Barry” Davis explained that it is much more cost effective to utilise workers from Cuba to supplement Public Works staff."

The Freeport News - The dangers of obesity : "Fried chicken, peas n' rice, baked macaroni and cheese, conch fritters and guava duff are all staples of the Bahamian diet. The common denominator connecting these and most Bahamian delicacies is often the high content of unhealthy fat and starches that, when consumed regularly, can all lead to obesity. Bahamians are dying. They are suffering from hypertension, diabetes and several life-threatening diseases that all stem from poor eating habits and lack of exercise. "

Jamaica Gleaner News - Slain pastor leaves legacy in Trench Town - Monday June 25, 2007 : "BEFORE HE died, Andrew Lawrence, pastor of the Bible Teachers International Ministry, had wanted to see the warring factions within Wilton Gardens (Rema) and Trench Town lay down their guns and come together. In the wake of his death, it seems as if this will become a reality. A day after Pastor Lawrence was found with several stab wounds in his home at Shortwood Drive, Kingston 8, members of those opposing factions were worshipping together in church yesterday at the Bible Teachers International Ministry at 33 1/2 Eastwood Park Road."

TrinidadExpress : "Thirty-three police officers working at the Mon Repos Station who were exposed to a violently ill prisoner suffering with tuberculosis (TB), will be tested to determine if they contracted the deadly disease. "

Local - Dominican Today : "Santo Domingo.- National Police chief Lieutenant General Bernardo Santana Páez has told reporters that over 30 people are in custody and six SUVs with scratch marks have been impounded as part of their investigation into a case where an SUV driver intentionally ran down and crushed a motorbike and its three occupants. A nine-year old girl is being treated for serious injuries, including the loss of a leg, at Plaza de la Salud. The incident happened after the motorbike scraped an SUV. The driver pursued the motorbike, knocked it over and intentionally reversed over the bike and the three young people."

The Nation Newspaper New faces of 13 : "THERE WERE ORIGINALLY 18, one had been set free, three others given prison terms in excess of 30 years while 14 were condemned to die for the 1983 executions of former Grenada Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and a number of his Cabinet colleagues. Defiantly, 21 years ago, they all protested their innocence and stuck to their Marxist views that they were victims of Uncle Sam (United States) and a kangaroo court. "

Klassic Grenada : "The Director of Public Prosecution Christopher Nelson, the lead for the prosecution in the re-sentencing hearing of the Grenada 13 has asked the Court to consider life sentences for the defendants or consecutive fixed term sentences. He was making submissions on behalf of the crown. The lead Prosecutor began his submission using quoted explicit terms, saying “that was the sentence of death pronounced on Evelyn Maitland and Keith Hayling, a sentence handed down by defendant Lester Redhead. Re-living the tragic events of October 19th 1983…the DPP said the victims, barebacked with their backs against a wall, were looking down the barrels of two PKM machine guns and a submachine gun…that sentence of death was carried out under the command of Callistus Bernard also known as Abdullah."

Jamaica Gleaner News - Black eye for Caribbean boxing - Boxers and officials left in the cold in St Maarten - Sunday June 24, 2007 : "THE 23RD Caribbean Amateur Boxing Association (CABA) championships, which were to have started in St. Maarten today, were yesterday officially cancelled following a 24-hour fiasco that saw 15 of the 19 delegations, comprising more than 200 boxers and officials, having nowhere to stay."

Antigua Sun: President Bush Aware of UIGEA Dispute : "Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer raised the country’s Internet dispute with the United States at during the meeting between Caricom leaders and President George W. Bush. Prime Minister Spencer spoke of Antigua & Barbuda’s desire to settle the matter with the United States over the Internet Gaming dispute which the country has won at every stage at the WTO. It was also pointed out to President Bush that by today Antigua & Barbuda will make application to the Dispute Settlement Body of the World Trade Organisation for certain remedies because of the US non-compliance with its ruling. "

Religious Intelligence - News - Caribbean Bishop calls for reparations for slave trade : "FOLLOWING his call for Britain to end its “lame, half-hearted apologies” for the slave trade, the Bishop of North East Caribbean has outlined the positive action the British Government should take. The Bishop, the Rt Rev Errol Brooks , had been speaking at a memorial service to remember the victims of the British Empire Atlantic slave trade on HMS Albion last Sunday. Some 500 people, including local church and political leaders, gathered on its helicopter landing deck and heard Sir Richard Cheltenham, a former Cabinet minister in Barbados call for “fruits worthy of repentance as indicated in the Bible.” "

Jamaica Gleaner News - 'She wanted to leave' - Gunmen firebomb house - Mother and child perish in blaze - Friday June 22, 2007 : "For several months, seven-year-old Damone Skyers had been expressing her fear and speaking with her grade-two teacher about the horrifying incidence of violence in the Torrington Park Housing Scheme, lower St. Andrew, where she lived with her mother, Maureen Bennett. Although she wanted so badly to move out of the tough inner-city community to a safer neighbourhood, that dream came to an end yesterday morning when her worst fears were realised. Both her remains and her mother's were removed from the one-bedroom concrete structure they occupied. According to the police, their house was firebombed by heavily armed gunmen who invaded the community during the wee hours of yesterday morning."

Trinidad News, Trinidad Newspaper, Trinidad Sports, Trinidad politics, Trinidad and Tobago, Tobago News, Trinidad classifieds, Trinidad TV, Sports, Business : "A Highway Patrol officer was yesterday denied bail on charges of trying to shoot and maim 12 policemen and leading a gang of thieves on a weekend crime spree. Constable Nigel Walker trembled and wept as 22 charges were read to him by Deputy Chief Magistrate Mark Wellington. "

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt : : "TEN months after cocaine was reportedly forced down the throat of 18-month-old Nicholas Samaroo, the Family Services Division of the Ministry of Social Development has placed the boy in protective custody. His whereabouts is being kept a secret, the Ministry disclosed yesterday. Nicholas’ mother, Rita Samaroo, did not see her son in Ward Five of the San Fernando General Hospital during one of her regular visits last week. She began to search for him at various children’s homes, but to no avail. "

BBCCaribbean.com Drama hits Grenada 13 re-sentencing : "Hearings into the re-sentencing of the so-called Grenada 13 were interrupted on Wednesday after a letter was introduced into the proceedings. It challenged the suitability of Barbados-born judge, Francis Belle, to preside over the case."

PM says flood of guns, poverty hurting Caribbean - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM : "WASHINGTON DC, USA - The flood of guns into the Caribbean, coupled with poverty, have left many Caribbean states, including Jamaica, in a persistent state of crime and violence, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller told Diaspora representatives attending the opening day of the Conference of the Caribbean currently underway here."

BBCCaribbean.com Antigua demands trade sanctions : "Antigua has asked the WTO to impose sanctions on the United States for ignoring a ruling that it has breached trade rules by effectively banning online gambling. "

Cubans mourn their "first lady," Vilma Espin Guillois: South Florida Sun-Sentinel : "Havana -- Havana An emotional Raul Castro laid a single red rose Tuesday at the base of a huge black-and-white portrait of his late wife, Vilma Espin Guillois, who fought as a guerrilla in the Eastern mountains and later served for decades as unofficial first lady of Cuba's revolution. Officials greeted Raul Castro, Cuba's acting president, with embraces and handshakes at a ceremony at the José Martí Memorial. Espin, his wife of 47 years and mother of their four grown children, died Monday at age 77 from complications following a long illness. Officials did not disclose the cause of death, but Espin was said to suffer from severe circulatory problems and possibly cancer in recent years. "

Stabroek News : "Barbados Prime Minister Owen Arthur made a stirring appeal yesterday for the US to join the Caribbean in a new partnership for progress saying that the greatest challenge facing the region was addressing what was essentially the end of the post colonial economy'. In reply U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez said the Caribbean and the United States have a 'solid' trade and investment relationship, which America seeks to strengthen. "

Caribbean Net News: Castro vows to bolster military, deter US 'invader' : "HAVANA, Cuba (Bloomberg): Cuban President Fidel Castro has vowed to strengthen his military to deter an invasion that he said is being planned by US President George W. Bush. Cuban President Fidel Castro. AFP PHOTO 'Cuba will continue developing and perfecting the combat capacity of its people, including our modest but active and efficient defensive weapons industry, which increases our ability to face the invader wherever he is found,' Castro wrote in an editorial published Monday in the Havana daily Granma. "

Jamaica Gleaner News - Tensions rise - Political squabbles increase as election nears - Tuesday June 19, 2007 : "ATTEMPTS BY Political Ombudsman Bishop Herro Blair to ease rising tensions between supporters of the two main political parties ahead of the pending general election, hit a snag yesterday.This came as an unnamed political representative failed to make time for a peace march in the turbulent South East St. Andrew constituency"

The Nation Newspaper Lawyers plead for Coard gang leniency : "ST GEORGE'S, Grenada – Lawyers for 13 leaders of a coup that prompted the United States invasion of Grenada pleaded for leniency at a resentencing hearing yesterday, saying their clients had experienced a 'spiritual transformation' in prison. "

Police Make Major Bust : "Police in Grand Bahama made a major bust early yesterday, confiscating millions of dollars in cash, a large cache of weapons and a significant amount of illegal drugs, including marijuana and cocaine, the Bahama Journal learnt last night."

CTO Says Tourism Has Suffered Considerably From New Passport Rule : "'The evidence is now overwhelming that tourism and commerce in the Caribbean region have suffered considerably as a result of the WHTI passport rules, as was predicted by the United States’ own study by the Customs and Border Protection in August 2006, as well as a study by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC),' said Allen Chastanet, the CTO chairman and St. Lucia’s tourism minister. "

dominicantoday.com Santo Domingo.- A Police sergeant-major has received a dishonorable discharge after being found dealing in drugs in the capital’s Capotillo neighborhood.Celestino Made Santiago was arrested by a police patrol after being found to be in possession of three pounds of cannabis, according to National Police chief Lieutenant General Bernardo Santana Páez.“We call on all members of the police to refrain from committing this type of illegal act, because otherwise they will be fired and sent to justice” said Santana Páez.Santana Páez said that during his term of office 13,341 police officers have been trained in legal issues, citizen security and violence prevention, as well as evidence collection, investigation and human rights at the Higher Studies Institute and the Training and Education Center.

The Nation Newspaper Cream of Wheat chef a Bajan : "A MAN widely believed to be the model for the smiling chef on Cream of Wheat boxes was a Barbadian. Frank L. White died in 1938, and until this week his grave in Woodlawn Cemetery in the United States bore only a tiny concrete marker with no name. "

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt : : "Trinidad and Tobago yesterday experienced the first storm of the rainy season as strong gusts uprooted trees, blew off roofs and downed power lines across the country. Heavy rainfall also triggered flash floods."

BBCCaribbean.com BVI to go to the polls : "The Legislative Council in the British Virgin Islands was dissolved on Friday. This paves the way for general elections. No date for the polls was announced."

Caribbean: News in the Caribbean - Caribbean360.com : "When it comes to human trafficking to Guyana, the number of victims of 'is very significant or is significantly increasing,' according to the U.S. State Department, which yesterday placed the country on its 'Tier 2' watchlist, a drop from the Tier 2 level of last year. "

Stabroek News : "Two Caribbean journalists have been deported from Antigua and Barbuda prompting condemnation from the Association of Caribbean Media (ACM) workers and other national media organizations. Veteran journalist and former editor-in-chief of the Antigua Sun, Vernon Khelawan of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) was deported on Tuesday and Dominican Lennox Linton of Observer Radio in Antigua, was sent back to his homeland yesterday. "

The Trinidad Guardian - : "EIGHTY days after he resumed his judicial duties, Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma was suspended yesterday by President George Maxwell Richards acting on the advice of Prime Minister Patrick Manning. The President’s suspension of the Chief Justice comes seven months before Sharma’s January 2008 retirement and after more than two years of legal wrangling involving allegations of interference by T&T’s third highest official in a preliminary inquiry. "

Woolmer case refuses to die - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM : "Former president of the Appeal Court, Justice Ian Forte, is to lead a review of the investigations and surrounding circumstances into the death of former Pakistani Cricket Coach Bob Woolmer on March 18 this year."

Pathologist insists Woolmer murdered - JAMAICAOBSERVER.COM : "DR Ere Seshaiah, the pathologist who performed the post-mortem on Bob Woolmer, is insisting that the former Pakistan cricket coach was murdered, even after Police Commissioner Lucius Thomas yesterday announced that Woolmer had died of natural causes and that the police have closed their investigation."

Caribbean Net News: Trinidad court denies bail for JFK plot suspects : "PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad (Reuters): A Trinidad court denied bail on Monday for three suspects in an alleged plot to blow up New York's JFK International Airport and a local prosecutor said they may face life imprisonment. "

BBCCaribbean.com Woolmer died of natural causes : "Jamaican police have confirmed that Pakistan cricket coach Bob Woolmer died of natural causes and was not murdered, as they stated earlier. "

The Nation Newspaper Fresh eyes on old cases : "THE TERRIFYING PAST is about to be dug up. Police announced yesterday it had set up a 'cold case squad' to review unsolved murders, including the chilling canefield killings of the late 1970s and 1980s. Commissioner of Police Darwin Dottin said during a Press Conference that a seven-man specialist team of detectives had been assigned to clear up the deaths."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : newsday.co.tt : : "One of the neighbours —who did not want to be identified— spoke with Nur convincing him that it was in his best interest to surrender to the police. Nur dressed in a grey T-shirt with a Reebok print and baggy trousers reported to the nearby West End Police Station around 11.30 am where he was handed over to CID officers. Officers of the West End Police Station told Newsday that Nur smiled while being processed and said he loved Trinidad and the United States. Later in the day, when he was taken to the Port-of-Spain Magistrates’ Court, he told reporters “It’s a set up... America never did me nothing. USA is my friend.” "

BBC NEWS Americas Profile: Jamaat al Muslimeen : "US officials say four men charged over an alleged plot to blow up John F Kennedy airport in New York have connections with Muslim extremists, including Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group based in Trinidad. "

CARIBBEAN TERROR - Opinion Editorials Op-Ed Articles : "Arrested was Russell Defreitas, an American citizen from Guyana and a former JFK employee. Also nabbed were Abdul Kadir, a former member of Guyana's parliament, and Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad. A fourth man, Abdel Nur, of Guyana, is still at large. All four apparently are Muslims, although authorities were quick to point out that they had no known ties to al-Qadea or other Islamist organizations. "

The Nation Newspaper JFK PLOT : "THE WORLD'S EYES are on the Caribbean now as it has been pitchforked onto the anti-terrorist radar screen as a breeding ground for people bent on causing death and destruction. "

Stabroek News : "The hosting of Cricket World Cup 2007, which provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the region and develop traditional markets, is turning out to be a financial and public relations disaster, Jamaican Professor Norman Girvan has said. "

Antigua Sun : "The increase in the gang culture is presenting the Caribbean with a unique problem. A problem that is exposing our lack of courage and managerial incompetence in our security institutions. We have no choice, we have to act expeditiously to ensure that gang and drug dealers do not produce violent revolutions in Caribbean states."