Regional News

(Trinidad Guardian) Ras­tas chant­ed for equal rights and jus­tice af­ter po­lice ar­rest­ed a man for pos­ses­sion of cannabis dur­ing the ral­ly or­gan­ised by the All Man­sions of Rasta­fari on Sun­day in San Fer­nan­do.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Big-game hunters from the United States are trying to get permission to head to Jamaica to hunt the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), which is reportedly breeding at an alarming rate and emerging as a major threat to the natural environment and agriculture, especially in the eastern parish of Portland.

(Jamaica Observer) Freed reggae artiste Buju Banton has been given a resounding vote of confidence by retired Jamaica Prime Minister PJ Patterson.

(Trinidad Guardian) Jus­tice Pe­ter Ja­madar is to be ap­point­ed a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Jus­tice (CCJ) by the Re­gion­al Ju­di­cial and Le­gal Ser­vices Com­mis­sion (RJLSC).

(Trinidad Guardian) A preg­nant moth­er of two, who was placed in a med­ical­ly in­duced co­ma with swine flu com­pli­ca­tions has died.

(Jamaica Gleaner) A Jamaican man has come forward as the winner of last month’s US$298 million Powerball lottery jackpot in the United States.

(Trinidad Guardian) The Op­po­si­tion Unit­ed Nation­al Congress has en­dorsed Venezue­lan Na­tion­al As­sem­bly head Juan Guai­do as in­ter­im Pres­i­dent and called for fresh elec­tions in Venezuela su­per­vised by in­ter­na­tion­al ob­servers.

(Trinidad Express) In a brief but hard-hitting statement on Venezuela’s developing political crisis, United States Ambassador Joseph Mondello yesterday slammed the Trinidad and Tobago Government for continuing to recognise Nicolas Maduro as president of the troubled country.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Trial judge Justice Vivene Harris had strong words for murder-convict police constable Collis ‘Chucky’ Brown in handing down sentencing yesterday afternoon in the Home Circuit Court.

(Jamaica Observer) The Jamaica Stock Exchange (JSE), the world’s number one performing stock exchange, launched the Jamaica Social Stock Exchange (JSSE) as a move to address social inequity at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Tuesday night.

(Trinidad Guardian) Last Sat­ur­day’s dead­line for the pay­ment of a US$40,000 ran­som has come and gone for the safe re­turn of Moru­ga cousins Kendall Singh and Ken­rick Mor­gan from Venezuela.

(Jamaica Observer) R Kelly has come under fire in the United States after the Lifetime channel released a six-part docu-series, Surviving R Kelly, on January 3.

(Jamaica Gleaner ) A court battle is looming between the Government and UC Rusal over Jamaica’s decision to revoke the mining licence that was issued to the Russian owners of West Indies Aluminium Company (Windalco) nearly 18 years ago.

(Trinidad Express) It was a tale of lies, trickery and broken promises as told by a 72-year-old man who said he gave a $5,000 gold chain to a woman less than half his age in exchange for sex but in the end, she took the item and refused to keep her side of the bargain.

(Trinidad Express) National Security Minister and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart Young, has reiterated Government’s commitment to respecting the sovereignty of Venezuela and said yesterday it continues to recognise Nicolas Maduro as the president of the troubled Latin American neighbour.

(Jamaica Observer) Ernest Smith, lawyer for Tommy Lee Sparta, says he is moving forward with proceedings to sue the government of Jamaica on behalf of his client.

(Jamaica Gleaner) Jamaica yesterday steered clear of endorsing Juan Guaido, Venezuela’s opposition leader, as interim president, even though the politician declared himself so in a defiant speech amid widespread protests against putative head of state Nicolas Maduro.

(Trinidad Guardian) Min­is­ter in the Of­fice of the Prime Min­is­ter, Stu­art Young has said that the gov­ern­ment of Trinidad and To­ba­go cur­rent­ly recog­nis­es Nico­las Maduro as the pres­i­dent of Venezuela.

(Trinidad Guardian) There have been in­stances of fraud found in three re­gion­al cor­po­ra­tions – and eyes are fo­cussed on a fourth.

(Barbados Government Information Service) From April 1, the importation, retail, sale and use of petro-based single use plastic (plastic made from petroleum) will no longer be allowed in Barbados.