Regional News

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund yesterday issued a “declaration of censure” against Venezuela for failing to provide necessary economic data and gave the crisis-stricken OPEC nation six months to take action.

(Trinidad Guardian) Hog-tied, gagged and bleeding heavily, a La Romaine pastor begged Jehovah God to spare his life after bandits stormed his home, chopping him and his son before stealing two vehicles, jewellery and cash totalling more than $.5 million early yesterday.

LONDON,  (Reuters) – Britain agreed yesterday to order its overseas territories such as the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands to make secretive company ownership information public by the end of 2020 to try to tackle corruption and tax avoidance.

(Trinidad Express) A pregnant woman was among three people who made an appearance at the Port of Spain Court yesterday charged with the shooting death of a consultant pharmacist at his Diego Martin home earlier this year.

 (Jamaica Gleaner) Post mortem examinations on the four bodies found last week in shallow graves in Thomas River near Pennants, Clarendon have revealed that they all had multiple gunshot wounds.

(Trinidad Guardian) Archbishop Jason Gordon is advocating for Venezuelan nationals seeking refuge to be welcomed, treated with dignity and integrated into this country.

SAO PAULO,  (Reuters) – Imprisoned former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, along with the current leader of the Workers Party he founded, were hit yesterday with fresh corruption charges by federal prosecutors.

(Trinidad Guardian) “Puss” Cudjoe walked out of the San Fernando High Court thanking God and his attorneys for his freedom last Friday.

CARACAS,  (Reuters) – Venezuela raised its minimum wage to 1 million bolivars per month yesterday, the third increase this year that puts the figure at just $1.61 at the black market exchange rate.

(Barbados Nation) Queen’s Counsel Andrew Pilgrim has apologised to Magistrate Graveney Bannister following an outburst in the Bridgetown Traffic Court last Friday.

(Jamaica Observer) SANTA CRUZ, St Elizabeth — As news spread on Friday that four decomposing bodies had been discovered in a sandy stream bed in Pennants, northern Clarendon, family members and friends of four missing St Elizabeth men set off for that distant place, hoping against hope.

(Trinidad Guardian) Two alleged robbers are dead while another remains at large following a failed robbery attempt in Petit Valley on Friday.

(Barbados Nation) An outburst by a Queen’s Counsel who ended his tirade with an expletive left those in the Bridgetown Traffic Court in shock on Friday.

(Trinidad Express) Two men who were charged with murdering a Chaguanas man and raping his female friend during a robbery in Chaguanas in 2005, will spend just about 11 more years in prison custody before being released back into the free world.

(Barbados Nation) Voters now have to face the presiding officer and the polling clerk when they go to put their “x” in the upcoming May 24 general elections.

MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Russia’s Rusal will be forced to quit the global aluminium market and focus on domestic consumers if the U.S.

SOCOPO, Venezuela, (Reuters) – It is mid-morning on a weekday yet all that can be heard in the once-bustling corridors of the Orlando Garcia state primary school is the swish of palm trees outside in the wind.

MEXICO CITY,  (Reuters) – The Inter-American Court of Human Rights yesterday began hearing the first case of alleged state-led human rights violations in Mexico to be brought since the country militarized its battle against violent drug cartels over a decade ago.

(Trinidad Express) Guyanese writer Imam Baksh was last night presented with the 2018 CODE Burt Award for Caribbean Young Adult Literature.

(Reuters) – U.S. oil major Chevron Corp has evacuated executives from Venezuela after two of its workers were imprisoned over a contract dispute with state-owned oil company PDVSA, according to four sources familiar with the matter.