SmallShop Caribbean News

Staff at a local resort has been getting their walking papers all week while those kept on the payroll have been told to take a paycut.

Antigua Sun "The joint owner of a small business on Upper Church Street, St. John’s, was shot to death Saturday afternoon in what appears to have been a violent robbery. Thirty-five-year-old Raymond Chin of Jamaica was rushed to the Mount St. John Medical Centre, after he was shot by an assailant at his J. Chin’s Top Notch store some time just after 5 p.m. He was later pronounced dead by doctors at the facility."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "HEAVY rainfall between Saturday night and yesterday resulted in several areas in west Trinidad being flooded and some persons spending their weekend marooned at home."

Kaieteur News : "A Guyanese fisherman perished when he was crushed between two boats during a pirate attack early Sunday morning. At about 08:30 hours yesterday, the Guyanese crew members of two fishing boats operating in the No.1 Caroni, Suriname, area were attacked by two men armed with a shotgun and a cutlass. It was during the attack that Satrohan Jagdeep Persaud, 53, of Little India Squatting Area, Corriverton, fell overboard and was squeezed between two boats resulting in his death."

JamaicaObserver.com : "Six of eight persons who were seen driving recklessly in a section of Kingston Friday night were arrested by the police after the cops found that they were not licensed to drive, neither were the cars they were driving insured. Police, led by Acting Commissioner Owen Ellington, started chasing the cars on Half-Way-Tree Road near the intersection with Beechwood Avenue and eventually got them to stop on Trafalgar Road in New Kingston."

Stabroek News "West Demerara police have detained the owner of a poultry farm and four others after it was discovered they were part of group which beat three teenagers, who they claimed had stolen from the farm, before taking them to the Wales Police Station."

Stabroek News "A Corriverton, Berbice man was crushed to death yesterday morning at Number One Caroni, Suriname after two Guyanese fishing vessels were attacked by two armed men, who stole one of the vessels and escaped."

Nation News "POLICE ARE ASKING relatives of a man who apparently drowned in The City yesterday morning to come forward. Acting public relations officer Station Sergeant David Welch said the 62-year-old man was taken from the inner basin of the Careenage at 7:25 a.m. by the Coast Guard."

St. Lucia STAR : "Belly dancing? Here in Saint Lucia? For some the notion and the thought draw instant curiosity. For others, maybe a bit of a snicker, because at most cultural displays here, there is a bit of belly dancing, right? Well, not exactly. You see belly dancing is much more than casual gyrations or simulated exotic hip and waist movement."

Kaieteur News : "Police at Lethem are hunting for a 25-year-old man who brutally raped his five-year-old stepdaughter causing her to be hospitalised. The man disappeared after the child’s mother, his reputed wife, left their home to report the matter to the police. Kaieteur News understands that the child was bleeding profusely from her vagina, forcing medical personnel at the Lethem Hospital to admit her immediately. The child’s mother had left her at home with her stepfather and eight-month-old sister on Friday night to work the eleven-to-seven shift, at her place of employment."

Stabroek News "“Life nice,” says Nicola McDonald, the Victoria amputee who was the victim of a brutal attack by her partner a little over two weeks ago, “It still nice.”"

JamaicaObserver.com : "THE ghastly gouging out of the eyes of self-confessed homosexual Claude Pryce by his enraged lover last week, brought into sharp focus the often spine-chilling, bloody end that awaits, when love goes wrong among gays. Police investigations of gay deaths are replete with scenes in which the knife - the apparent weapon of choice - is plunged over and over into the body of the victim, leaving a trail of blood that frequently leads to prominent doors in affluent St Andrew"

Jamaica Gleaner News The Duhaney River in St Andrew claimed the lives of three young boys yesterday in a tragedy that left the communities of Tower Hill and Riverton City numb. The boys were among a group of five from Tower Hill, Olympic Gardens, who had gone to the river close to the Riverton City dump to swim shortly after 2:00 yesterday afternoon. Three of the boys experienced difficulties and drowned, while the other two made it back to shore safely."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "HER MAJESTY Queen Elizabeth II has appointed Sir George Alleyne, Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, to investigate and report on the issues surrounding UWI’s refusal to allow Dr Tim Gopeesingh to take up the post of senior lecturer because he is a sitting MP."

Antigua Sun "The duo charged with possession of arms and ammunitions following a raid at a Potters residence this week were remanded to prison when they appeared before Chief Magistrate Ivan Walter yesterday. Leston “Young Destroyer” Jacobs 27, and 20-year-old Ceylon Howe were both remanded until 2 Dec., 2009."

Jamaica Gleaner News "Swaby admitted today that he and his co-accused, 26-year-old garbage-truck driver Calvin Powell, of New Green Manchester, went to an automated banking machine early on the morning of December 10, 2006, to withdraw money. He said it was a man called Nicholas Stewart who was dressed in a blue suit like the police who had given him the card to make the withdrawal, but they did not get any money from the machine. The Crown is alleging that the men were using a bank card belonging to Richard Lyn, but Swaby has denied the allegation."

JamaicaObserver.com : "THE arrest Wednesday of a policeman at the Greater Portmore Police Station pushed to 60 the number of cops charged with corruption this year. The detective sergeant, whose name is being withheld by the police, was arrested on the grounds of the police station by officers of the constabulary's Anti-Corruption Branch in a sting operation for alleged breaches of the Corruption Prevention Act."

Stabroek News "Minister of Health Dr Leslie Ramsammy has thrown down the gauntlet to pharmacies to desist from selling the single dose artemisinin malaria drug by the end of this year or he would instruct officers from the Food & Drugs Department to size the drug from their shelves. Saying his patience is running out, Ramsammy stated that he would be forced to take such an extreme measure as the single dose drug poses a risk to the malaria fight since there is a resistance to the combination that has been developed."

Jamaica Gleaner News "THE NURSE who went to the aid of persons injured in the horrific market-truck crash in Dam Bridge, Portland, last December, has been suspended for her action that night. Rackell Wilson has had her enrolled assistant nursing licence suspended by the Nursing Council of Jamaica for six months. She has also been sent to do remedial classes on the span and control of an enrolled assistant nurse and nursing ethics. Wilson is also required to attend professional counselling sessions. The suspension followed a hearing by the council, which found that she had administered medication to one of the crash victims without permission."

Nation News "POLICE WERE last night investigating an attempted murder-suicide in Cave Land, St Philip. Reports indicated that a dispute between a husband and wife led to one being seriously injured and the other ingesting a poisonous substance."

The Associated Press: "OLVESTON, Montserrat — Light ash has fallen over the capital of Montserrat after the Caribbean island's temperamental volcano hurled another round of hot rocks and gases. Volcano observatory director Paul Cole says a small pyroclastic flow nearly reached the ocean as Soufriere Hills shed part of its old dome this week. He said Friday that ash fell on parts of Olveston and Old Town. Tremors also shook the volcano as it began emitting lava closer to the summit."

The Barbados Advocate : "International tennis superstar, Serena Williams, has landed! And just in time for our 43rd Independence celebrations! With all the pomp and splendour, the world No. 1 women’s tennis player touched down at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday afternoon aboard American Airlines flight AA 1417. Serena was all smiles as she descended the stairs of the aircraft where scores of curious onlookers, travellers and airport staff gathered to get a glimpse of her. She was met on the tarmac by Minister of Sport, Dr. Esther Byer-Suckoo, Sports-Tourism Manager of the Barbados Tourism Authority, Gregory Armstrong, and Tournament Director Kodi Lewis."

JamaicaObserver.com : "A Jamaican woman who took part in a massive marriage scam was last week sentenced to 12 months imprisonment in a British Crown Court. She has been identified as Verona Walters, 33, of Birmingham New Road. She was convicted after pleading guilty to conspiracy to facilitate a breach of immigration law."

Antigua Sun : "Robbers have struck again, this time at Tony’s Pizza and Shawarma Shop and the Chanderpaul Tavern. Police are now conducting investigations into both incidents."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "HER Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is here. Her British Airways Boeing 777 jet airliner touched down yesterday at Piarco International Airport at exactly 2.44 pm, after a four-hour flight from Bermuda. After a 15-minute wait at the end of the runway, in which time local dignitaries including President George Maxwell Richards and Prime Minister Patrick Manning took their positions on the tarmac, the plane taxied up to the red carpet. British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago, Eric Jenkinson, and local Chief of Protocol, Reitha Toussaint, ascended the stairs and entered the craft. A senior British military officer descended to join the waiting party at the foot of the stairs."

Kaieteur News : "Police have detained a woman and her daughter for questioning into the brutal murder of popular local actor Joel Fraser called ‘Sweets’. The woman and her daughter were detained last night, after they gave conflicting accounts of her association with the murdered actor. Fraser was found with his throat slit on the Liliendaal Seawall, aback of the Ocean View International Hotel early Wednesday morning."

Stabroek News "Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee has directed the Police Commissioner Henry Greene to take strong action against all police ranks involved in the two recent cases of misconduct, including the attempted rape of female juvenile while in custody."

Nation News "TWO PUPILS of a primary school in the north reportedly caught performing 'inappropriate' acts on each other have been disciplined and sent for counselling. The incident, which took place last week on the school's premises, occurred between an Infants B boy and girl. When contacted, the principal confirmed there was an incident, but stopped short of saying it was sex, preferring to use the term 'inappropriate touching'."

NYTimes.com : "The queen of England will still rule — formally at least — over the eastern Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines after voters in a referendum rejected a plan to replace her with a president chosen by Parliament. Preliminary results showed 56 percent voted against the change, even though both of the country’s parties have sought to replace the queen with a president as head of state."

mirror.co.uk : "An Olympic judo star was convicted yesterday of being part of a £50million drug gang. Barbados-born James Waithe, 47, helped sell £1million worth of cocaine a week. Police who raided his Bristol flat found a drug 'factory' - and several guns."

Jamaica Gleaner News "Participants in the ongoing commission of enquiry into the Financial Sector Adjustment Company (FINSAC) were left with heavy hearts yesterday as the hearing learned how the financial crisis of the 1990s and its aftermath ruined 59-year-old Mechesk Willis' life. All eyes fell on Willis as he ambled to the microphone on two crutches."

JamaicaObserver.com : "THE Finsac enquiry into the 1990s financial meltdown received startling news yesterday for the first time that the National Commercial Bank (NCB), then Jamaica's second largest, was only spared because it was too big to close. Former finance minister, Dr Omar Davies told the enquiry that he gave the National Commercial Bank (NCB) special treatment because of the 'too big to close' syndrome."

Kaieteur News : "Officials at the Springlands Police Station are investigating the alleged rape of a 15-year-old girl by two police ranks and a Rural Constable. Kaieteur News understands that the three men are under close arrest and that the Rural Constable has admitted to having sexually assaulted the juvenile. The incident allegedly occurred last month but only came to light a few days ago."

Stabroek News "The truck driver involved in the Mahaica crash that claimed six lives on Saturday admitted that he was drunk at the time and was yesterday remanded to prison pending sentencing."

Nation News "COURT OF APPEAL JUDGE Sherman Moore will decide next week whether or not he will be granting the National Housing Corporation (NHC) a stay of execution as the agency seeks to avoid a court marshal's levy on its property."

Nation News "Byer-Suckoo said domestic violence was complex and involved heterosexual men and transvestites, people operating outside traditionally assigned gender roles, and the matter boiled down to human rights."

For the first time in 5 years, Cuba's military has launched a massive military exercise, the first since U.S. President Barack Obama took office. CBS News' Portia Siegelbaum reports from Havana.

members of the United Workers Party (UWP) in a protest outside of the nation's radio station DBS which is also know as Dominica Broadcasting Corporation. They said that the radio station is refusing to play their ads and commercials.

Mail Online : "West Indies captain Chris Gayle has claimed that he was forced to catch a commercial flight to Australia because the pilot on his private plane was 'too drunk' to fly."

The Associated Press: "GEORGETOWN, Guyana — Police say a jaguar prowling the lush jungles of Guyana killed a gold and diamond miner as he fetched water from a creek. A police statement says fellow miners found 43-year-old Kurt Rodrigues after the mauling. He died while en route to a hospital. Rupununi Region vice chairwoman Claire Singh said Tuesday it's unusual for jaguars to attack people. But Guyanese cattle and poultry farmers often complain that jaguars and ocelots maul their livestock."

The Associated Press: "KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent — Voters in the Caribbean nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines decide Wednesday whether to break their ties with Britain's monarchy, even as Queen Elizabeth II is making a rare visit to the region. A two-thirds majority in the referendum is needed to adopt a proposed constitution that would replace the charter in place since independence from Britain in 1979."

Dominica News Online "A 44-year-old Delices man will now spend the next two years and seven months at the Dominica State Prison after pleading guilty to the possession and cultivation of 75 marijuana trees. Christian Corriette, who appeared before Chief Magistrate Evelina Baptiste last week at a Roseau magistrate’s court, was sentenced to spend 24 months on the charge of cultivation of cannabis and seven months on the count of possession of cannabis."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Concerned over the recent spate of school violence which culminated in the murders of two schoolboys in four days, Education Minister Esther Le Gendre yesterday unveiled a plan aimed at stopping students from liming after school. “Children who are there and not ready to go home (after school is dismissed) will find themselves in all kinds of mischief,” Le Gendre said."

Stabroek News "The search for a missing soldier ended yesterday when his decomposing remains were found in the Cuyuni River, about 11 miles from the army’s Eteringbang border location were he was based."

The Bahama Journal "A day after Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Chairman Bradley Roberts called for his resignation National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest fired back – saying that his critics are using him as a 'scapegoat' for the recent spate of crime in the country. Mr. Turnquest, who has faced a firestorm of criticism ever since 18 tourists were held up and robbed during a guided tour in New Providence, said certain parties have been quick to point the finger at him."

Sun St. Kitts L "Senator Nigel Carty said the recent episode where a joint press release by the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Evangelical Association and the St. Kitts Christian Council prematurely found itself in the hands of Chairman of the People’s Action Movement, Sidney Osborne is 'washed with dishonesty of the very highest order.'"

Antigua Sun "After complaints from the Traffic Department of the Royal Police Force of Antigua and Barbuda over the frequency of road accidents last week, there was another serious one to contend with last night. Police and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) personnel rushed to the Golden Grove area, just past the Antigua State College, where it was reported that a youth who was travelling on a bicycle was run over by a truck which was allegedly hauling bags of cement."

Jamaica Gleaner News "The phenomenon of minors engaging in prostitution on Port Henderson Road in St Catherine is well known to the police but arresting the matter is proving to be a major challenge. The police are also struggling with a growing trend, where adult males are taking girls from schools to the hotels located on the strip known as 'Back Road'."

JamaicaObserver.com : "THE police, over the past four months, seized 14 guns, hundreds of ratchet knives, machetes, a bow, as well as marijuana and dozens of pirated DVDS in their 'weekend initiative' which runs from Fridays to Sundays - the period which they say the majority of the most serious crimes are committed. Several wanted men were among 163 persons arrested in the drive, which saw the mounting of more than 330 vehicle checkpoints, the execution of more than 307 foot patrols, and 697 mobile patrols islandwide."

Nation News - "ESCAPEE Mark Anderson Franklyn has been recaptured after leading police on a two-week manhunt. Franklyn, a 44-year-old resident of Ashby Alley, Nelson Street, The City, acheived notoriety when he escaped from the adjacent prison farm around 10:30 a.m on November 10, after entering in August on a two-year sentence for theft."

The Police are investigating an employee of the small hotel who they say was working with an expired work permit and had in her possession a passport containing the forged signature of a senior member of the immigration department.

Jamaica Information Service : "The Norman Manley International Airport reverberated with the sound of Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) artillery Monday evening, as it pounded out a symbolic 21- Gun Salute to welcome Their Excellencies, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, and First Lady, Salma Kikwete."

The Barbados Advocate : "International tennis superstar Caroline Wozniacki arrived at the Grantley Adams International Airport yesterday just days before she she is scheduled to do battle with Serena Williams at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium. The world number 4 was all smiles as she greeted the press at the Grace Adams Suite yesterday and noted that it was always a dream of hers to come to Barbados."

Nation News "His was the 20th road death so far for the year, an increase of four over the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, one man had to be cut from a vehicle in another accident in The Belle, St Michael."

Kaieteur News : "One-year-old Jonathan Bourne, a survivor of the Mahaica smash up, still remains in a critical condition at the Georgetown Public Hospital. A CT scan shows that the toddler sustained massive head injuries. Fluids were still being drained from the child’s body. His mother, Clavia Williams, is also a patient of the same institution. She sustained injuries to her foot and hands."

JamaicaObserver.com : "Residents of a St Catherine community, driven by their need to have a basic school to be built there by the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), outfoxed the local don who apparently wanted to extort the project. According to Scarlette Gillings, managing director of the JSIF, the incident demonstrated that the strong will of law-abiding citizens is more powerful than influential inner-city dons."

Jamaica Gleaner News "AT LEAST one, and maybe more, of the young girls reported missing under the Ananda Alert system are in St Catherine, working as prostitutes on the Port Henderson strip, better known as 'Back Road'. Up to September this year, 1,206 children had been reported missing, with 676 confirmed as returning home, three killed, and more than 500 still unaccounted for. However, The Gleaner has confirmed that, of those un-accounted for, at least one is selling her body on Back Road, and business operators and other prostitutes in the area believe she is periodically joined by friends of the same age."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Just four days before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, an Australian boat captain has been brought before a Port-of-Spain magistrate to answer four charges, one of which included possession of two high powered sniper rifles."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "OROPOUCHE EAST MP Dr. Roodal Moonilal, Member of Parliament for Oropouche East, has written to Minister of Health Jerry Narace asking that priority be given to the inoculation of residents of communities of Oropouche East where there was a high concentration of fatalities and patients as a result of the A-HINI influenza. The Opposition parliamentarian told Minister Narace he respectfully “refused” to accept the flu treatment “until and unless those affected children, close relatives and villagers who have been in direct contact with victims have been inoculated”." Related On Drug news H1N1 vaccinations under scrutiny

Kaieteur News : "The body of Ivan Phillips, 54 years of D’Urban Street, Lodge, was found lying in a pool of blood at the Le Premier Academy on North Road and Alexander Street, where he worked as a security guard. The man had a stab wound to the neck and his head was bashed in. According to reports, the man was discovered around 6:00 hrs yesterday by passersby who were on their way to the nearby Bourda Market. While no one has been arrested so far, many opined that the murder appears to be the handy work of a ‘junkie’, since a battered one side foot wear that did not belong to the victim was found nearby."

Stabroek News : "One more person has succumbed as a result of Saturday’s grisly Mahaica crash, taking the death toll to six and the police last night railed against recklessness on the roads revealing that the truck driver had 242 microgrammes of alcohol above the legal limit."

Jamaica Gleaner News - : "Prime Minister Bruce Golding yesterday gave the assurance that his administration would not renege on its debt-paying obligations, despite the snail's-pace crawl to a reinstated borrowing arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In an undramatic speech, devoid of the vigour and enthusiasm characteristic of presentations at mass political events, Golding told supporters he would not sully Jamaica's good name by backing away from honouring its debt."

JamaicaObserver.com : "PRIME Minister Bruce Golding yesterday reiterated that the country had no choice but to enter a borrowing relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and warned that the measures his administration needs to take to correct the economic problems it inherited, two years ago when it came to office, will be very painful. 'It is not going to be easy; it is not going to be painless. There is no anaesthetic that can put the country to sleep while we fix what has to be fixed,' Golding, who is also leader of the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), told the public session of the ruling party's 66th annual conference at the National Arena in Kingston."

allAfrica.com: : "Monaco — As expected, world sprints sensation, Jamaica's Usain Bolt, was on Sunday night named the IAAF 2009 athlete of the year with American Sanya Richards voted the best female athlete. After breaking two of his own world records by clocking 9.58 seconds in the 100 metres and 19.19 in the 200m, and helping Jamaica to the short relay gold at the World Championships in Berlin, Bolt's five sub 9.90 seconds times in the 100m and three sub 19.60s in the 200m always made him an easy choice for the judges and athletics fans who made the choice."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Disgruntled air traffic control workers are planning sick-out action on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), a move which will cripple air traffic at the Piarco International Airport."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Relatives of 13-year-old Malik Hilliare say he was stabbed and killed when he tried to protect his long-time friend who was being beaten by two schoolboys. At Locust Hill, Malick in Barataria, yesterday, relatives were distraught and refused to accept his death, maintaining that the teen was not a troublemaker."

Nation News "PATRICIA BRYAN can identify with the seven people who plummeted while riding in the elevator at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) two weeks ago. The former staff nurse at the hospital encountered the same frightening experience not once, but twice. She fell while riding the elevators on August 19 and September 25, back in 2005. As a result of the falls, Bryan is now battling a series of medical complications which resulted in her being retired medically unfit in 2007 after working in the health service for 27 years."

Antigua Sun "Police are investigating a report of a stabbing which occurred in Pigotts Village at about 4 p.m yesterday. Reports are that the 34-year-old Pigotts Village man who is an employee of the government Motor Pool was allegedly beaten and stabbed by five men."

Kaieteur News : "Five persons died when the minibus in which they were travelling on the De Hoop Mahaica Public Road, East Coast Demerara slammed into the back of a truck last evening."

JamaicaObserver.com : "SLEEPING with the door unlocked is something not even the bravest Kingstonian would chance in today's Jamaica. But for east Portlanders, the practice is commonplace and harks back to a time when acts of crime and violence were rare and unusual. 'You can leave your house go party and nutten happen. Nobody here lock dem door,' says Donovan Campbell, a taxi operator from Hector's River. 'Hector's River is the best community in east Portland. It is [virtually] crime free. The two likkle tief dem dat we have under control.'"

Jamaica Gleaner News "The Roman Catholic Church and the State could be on a collision course over the laws regarding reporting suspected incidents of child abuse. Under the law, everyone is mandated to report cases of child abuse, even if the information is delivered in a confessional booth. But the rules of the Roman Catholic Church say that is a no-no."

Nation News "Flogging that’s not taken to excess can be an effective disciplinary action. So said Opposition Leader Mia Mottley as she broke her silence on the recent controversy that swirled around St Leonard’s Boys’ School and the use of a whip by a senior teacher there to punish tardy students."

Stabroek News "A bogus doctor, who was allowed to set up shop in Lethem for nearly two months and hire staff from the Lethem Hospital, has been outed as an alleged Venezuelan drug dealer on the run."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "POLICE are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death of well-known Chaguanas attorney Victor Hosein whose body was found in the front passenger seat of his car parked in the carpark of a south shopping mall yesterday. Hosein, police said, was discovered frothing at the mouth in his Toyota Camry car which was parked at Tropical Plaza in Pointe-a-Pierre. A shopper who observed Hosein’s body in the car made a report to the mall security and an EHS ambulance was summoned."

Trinidad Express "THE first 50,000 doses of influenza A/H1N1 vaccine have arrived and, according to Minister of Health, Jerry Narace, decision-makers will be among the first people to get inoculated."

Nation News "Store owners have already started complaining, bags, phones and jewellery have already been snatched, and the police are out in their numbers. That is the scenario painted of Bridgetown, The City, as it prepares to take in thousands of shoppers and ‘limers’ alike for the busy Christmas period."

Nation News "TRANSFER AND DISCIPLINARY CHARGES are being considered for prison warder Shanelle Ellis following her November 14 marriage to former convict Adrian Vaughan. A senior prison official told the SATURDAY SUN a top level meeting was held between Government officials and the prison administration on Wednesday and Ellis’ situation was high on the agenda. The official said no one could seek to dictate a person’s choice for a spouse under normal circumstances, but added Ellis’ association with Vaughan was a violation of the rules governing Her Majesty’s Prisons, Dodds."

Dominica News Online "Opposition United Workers Party Leader Ron Green today stood as a surety for a La Plaine man charged with defacing the property of the National Bank of Dominica by pasting posters on November 4, 2009. Earsan Fountain, who was released on a $1,000 bail earlier this month, pleaded not guilty to the charge and is set to appear on April 8, 2010 for trial at a Roseau magistrate’s court."

JamaicaObserver.com : "Barbados is the least corrupt among nine Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries surveyed by Transparency International (TI) in its Corruption Perception Index (CPI) this year. The island ranked 20th among 180 countries just behind the United States on the CPI, which measures domestic public sector corruption."

Stabroek News "A policeman suffered gunshot injuries to his face while responding to a robbery at Hampshire, Corentyne around 7.30 pm on Wednesday and is currently a patient at the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPH)."

Jamaica Gleaner News "The US$200-million divestment cost of the national carrier Air Jamaica could be one of the major factors causing the delay in concluding negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The deadline to wrap up the IMF loan was originally slated for September. Then the date was moved to October, then to November."

JamaicaObserver.com : "Verona Samuels and Natalie Sill, the two jurors who police say were caught accepting money from the mother of a man accused of the murder of an ex-cop, were remanded in custody when they appeared in the Clarendon Circuit Court yesterday. The two, who are charged with contempt of court, appeared before Justice Brian Sykes who ordered that they be assigned legal aid after they told the court that they were unable to afford attorneys."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Proclamation of the breathalyser law has not put the break on the road carnage as three more persons lost their lives in accidents yesterday. A mother, her young son and a national volleyball player are the latest casualties of crashes which occurred early yesterday morning."

Nation News "DEAN ST HILL is no longer with the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The former programme manager for radio at the state-owned entity in the Pine, St Michael, was terminated last Friday. St Hill had very little to say yesterday: 'As far as I know I was terminated. I can't say any more than that.'"

Nation News "POLICE have been called in to investigate the matter involving a Registration Department worker and a Government security guard. Yesterday, industrial relations officer Caswell Franklyn revealed the matter was engaging the police's attention and the National Union of Public Workers had already spoken to a lawyer."

Nation News "REGISTRATION DEPARTMENT WORKERS walked off the job yesterday over the alleged manhandling and injuring of a staff member by a Government security guard. The worker at the centre of the action, Trecia Collymore, is now on sick leave after attending the FMH emergency clinic on Wednesday afternoon."

Kaieteur News : "Magistrate Geeta Chandan-Edmond was literally left battered and bruised when four masked gunmen held her up on a lonely stretch of road in Mahaicony and relieved her of cash jewellery and other valuables in what was described as a well-planned attack. But the Magistrate is convinced that the attack was not merely just a robbery. She has since expressed fear for her life and those of her family. The attack occurred about 15:30 hours yesterday while the Magistrate was heading home from work in the city with her baby daughter and her babysitter, Surita."

Stabroek News "Years of abuse reached their peak yesterday when a 45-year-old Eccles woman was brutally chopped about her body allegedly by her husband who was later found hiding in a weed-infested trench several streets away. Chrita Noharie called Veronica of Lot 51 ‘CC’ Eccles, East Bank Demerara is now a patient of the Georgetown Public Hospital after undergoing emergency surgery on her hands. This newspaper has learnt that one of the limbs was left hanging after the attack had ended. Her husband was arrested and taken into custody."

Jamaica Gleaner News "Violence and aggression continue to be the major causes of trauma in some schools, as a small, yet significant number of students become involved in gang rivalry, drug trafficking, drug use, drug abuse and fights, sometimes with deadly weapons. These incidents usually result in violent acts that are at times fatal, affecting the entire school community and causing major disruptions. Trauma also results from unplanned events and accidents happening in and around the school compound."

JamaicaObserver.com : "NEW YORK, USA - Moody's Investors Service has cautioned Jamaica that the inking of a deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the near term will not automatically improve the country's credit rating. The warning by Moody's vice-president and senior analyst, Alessandra Alecci - the second by a rating agency in a month - came just ahead of yesterday's downgrade of Jamaica's local and foreign currency government bond ratings to Caa1 from B2 by the international rating agency."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "A POLICEMAN was chopped and left for dead by bandits during a hold-up at his Fyzabad home on Tuesday night. He however remains warded in serious condition under police guard at San Fernando General Hospital (SFGH). PC Robert Henry of Siparia Police Station received chops to the head and arm when he fought with three bandits who invaded his home and threatened to kill his family. While Henry’s two-year-old daughter was unharmed, his four-months pregnant wife, Laverne, was attacked by the bandits. She sustained minor injuries and was taken to the SFGH where she was attended to and later discharged.."

Nation News "An early morning police operation led to the discovery of 18 fully grown cannabis plants in the backyard of a house at Lewis Gap, Howell's Cross Road, The Ivy, St Michael, yesterday. Up to press time, no one had been charged. 'The operation was conducted at 7:45 a.m. by the Anti-Gun Unit and the Special Services Unit and was subject of a warrant executed. No one has yet been charged,' said acting police public relations officer Station Sergeant David Welch."

Kaieteur News : "Despite the commencement of a well publicized security campaign for the city, the lack of police response to a brazen robbery has left a Campbellville businessman frustrated. Shivnarine Singh, of D. Singh Trading, almost had his three-year-old son kidnapped during the ordeal and to compound matters, several attempts to get the police to respond proved futile."

Stabroek News "Seeking to galvanise support for an international inquiry into human violations here, the joint opposition political parties yesterday unveiled a dossier documenting abuses, including the torture and murder of citizens that they say were carried out with state support."

Jamaica Gleaner News "Jamaica's dismal slide down the international corruption index is continuing, with the latest data showing the country slipping a further three places. The 2009 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from Transparency International shows Jamaica at 99th of the 180 countries surveyed."

JamaicaObserver.com : "APPROXIMATELY 2,000 students of the University of Technology (UTech) could be barred from sitting their end-of-semester exams because of the non-payment of tuition fees. The affected students were deregistered by the St Andrew-based university last Friday for the non-payment of their fees."

JamaicaObserver.com : "SUPERINTENDENT Harry 'Bungles' Daley, the most senior cop to be slapped with corruption charges, will today know his fate when he appears in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "Flamboyant French President Nicolas Sarkozy is expected to join 53 other world leaders at the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Port-of-Spain."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday "A POLICE officer stationed at the Chaguanas Magistrates’ Court is at the centre of investigations by Homicide detectives into the murder of internationally acclaimed sculptor, Madan Gopal, 66. According to a police report, officers of the Homicide Bureau received information from eyewitnesses that on the night of November 8 Gopal, who seemed to be intoxicated, went to his house — his “stone castle” at Train Line, Endeavour, Chaguanas to sleep, but was chased by a woman."

Nation News "LET THE WORD go out, said Magistrate Pamela Beckles. Anyone who commits crime as the Yuletide season approaches, especially if they have convictions, could be staring at time on remand. The magistrate's comments came as she dealt with three men and a teenaged boy who were before her on a $36 000 theft charge in the District 'A' Magistrates' Court yesterday."

Kaieteur News : "The mother of the tortured 14-year-old boy yesterday alleged that an anonymous caller is trying to deter the lad from identifying the policemen who injured him. The boy turned 15 on Saturday. Ms. Shirley Thomas said she received the call around 06:00 hrs yesterday, just a few hours before her son was scheduled to attend an identification parade at CID Headquarters, Eve Leary. The identification parade was postponed after the boy’s stepfather, Doodnauth Jaikarran, refused to let his stepson participate in the exercise without his lawyer being present."

Dominica News Online "An unidentified man attacked a security guard on the Inland Revenue Department's premises and broke the entrance door to that building after he was asked to leave the area last Thursday. According to Miguel Bertrand, an employee of the Inland Revenue Department, the incident took place at 4:10 p.m. after business hours. The man wanted to enter the Inland Revenue building, however was stopped by a security guard standing at the building's entrance, Bertrand explained."

Sun St. Kitts : "Approximately 2:55 a.m. last Friday, at the Frigate Bay Beach Strip, police on duty as well as those off duty recognised that there was an altercation, which they suspected to be a gang fight. Bottles and stones were being thrown. The police intervened to break up the altercation and a 17-year-old young man attacked and wounded a police officer on his head. The wounded police officer discharged a round from his service pistol and wounded his attacker in his left abdomen."

Stabroek News "Police are hunting for a woman of Grant 1806 Crabwood Creek, Berbice in connection with the murder of Ram Kanniah whose body was fished out of a septic tank around 11 am on Sunday."

Jamaica Gleaner News Prime Minister Bruce Golding has challenged the Opposition to a public debate to seek solutions for a country steeped in crisis and labelled by The Economist news magazine as 'unfixable'. Golding declared Sunday night, during a Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Area One Council meeting at the Denham Town Community Centre in his West Kingston constituency, that his government now has the task of not only surviving the storm of global recession, but correcting the missteps of the last People's National Party (PNP) government."

JamaicaObserver.com : "Members of the Police Officers Association (POA) say the ease with which some offenders are afforded bail is derailing the constabulary's efforts to fight crime and are urging the Government to fast track crucial pieces of legislation to give law enforcement more teeth. According to POA member, Senior Superintendent Wray Palmer, the courts need to give more attention to the granting of bail as accused persons are being allowed to return to the streets to continue committing crimes."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday : "COMMONWEALTH and local human rights groups are calling on Commonwealth leaders, including Prime Minister Patrick Manning, to ban the participation of the President of Gambia Yahya Jammeh at the Heads of Government meeting later this month in light of statements he made threatening to kill persons affiliated with human rights groups in his country."

Nation News "BARBADOS is not in dreadful economic straights even though its rating outlook has changed, says Olga Kalinina, Standard & Poor's (S&P) credit analyst. While unemployment is on the rise, the fiscal deficit is widening and there is a decline in economic activity, Kalinina, who monitors Barbados and most of the Caribbean for the credit rating giant, said the island's economic picture wasn't ominous by any means."

Radiojamaica.com "The organisers of Big Day Out have given in to protests from gay rights groups and pulled Jamaican performer Beenie Man out of its line up of artistes for the January 2010 event. Gay rights groups expressed outrage at the invitation to the January event in Auckland, New Zealand for Beenie Man, who they say has sung gay lyrics in the past."

Taiwan News Online : "amaican police say street gang members tossed gasoline bombs in a slum outside the island's capital, setting one house ablaze and killing a 90-year-old woman. A police statement said the remains of Inez Brown were recovered from her charred home early Sunday after it was set on fire by a group of gangsters. The same attackers also randomly shots into a few homes in Portmore, on the outskirts of the capital, Kingston. Police say no arrests have been made. Kingston has one of the highest homicide rates in the Western Hemisphere, and gang violence is a regular occurrence in its surrounding slums."

GayNZ.com "Following a storm of protest against the artist, the producers of the popular music festival decided yesterday that the notorious anti-gay Jamaican Reggae artist will now not appear. 'These concert cancellations will hit Beenie Man hard in the pocket,' reacts UK-based gay campaigner Peter Tatchell today. 'He has lost tens of thousands of dollars."

Kaieteur News : "In the wake of the shocking revelations of the torture of a 14-year old boy at Vreed-en- Hoop, the Guyana Police Force has effected changes to its high command with Divisional Commander Paulette Morrison being relieved of her duties on the West Demerara."

Stabroek News "Just over three weeks after the torture of a 15-year-old boy while in custody at the Leonora Police Station, the area commander has been moved from the division and will now take up a position at the force’s Eve Leary Headquarters.

Jamaica Gleaner News "Jamaicans have given a lukewarm response to an urgent call to play a critical role in the success of the Ananda Alert, a nationwide child-abduction alert network named after 11-year-old Ananda Dean, who was kidnapped and murdered in 2008. The multi-agency alert system was launched in May this year and is designed to alert the nation whenever a child is reported missing."

JamaicaObserver.com : "MANDEVILLE, Manchester - This south central highlands town is reeling from news of the shooting death late Saturday of businessman Vincent Young, during a robbery at his supermarket on Manchester Road, just outside the town centre."

JamaicaObserver.com : "The Ministry of Education has interdicted six senior public servants, and launched a major investigation into the disappearance of 80 scripts with the results of fourth-graders from Pembroke Hall Primary School, who sat the grade four literacy test in June. The results which should have been handed to the school for the start of the 2009/2010 academic year in September, would determine the literacy levels of the students. Results showed mastery, near mastery or non-mastery of reading readiness skills at the grade level."

Trinidad and Tobago's Newsday A TRIP for burgers claimed the lives of two best friends early yesterday when the car they were travelling in crashed into an electricity pole in Couva. Dead are Deodath Samaroo, who was a storekeeper at Plipdeco, and Indar Arjoon,19, both of Esperanza Village, Couva. A third friend and fellow villager, Dale Gopaul, 26, cheated death but sustained injuries."