Regional News

(Trinidad Guardian) “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment,” was the Bible quote Darlene Gordon used in describing her son Ronaldo Gordon’s tragic death.

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s Justice Minister, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, plans to resign by today, fed up with rising attacks from his Workers’ Party over a wide-reaching police probe into corruption that has ensnared a number of party officials, two presidential sources told Reuters yesterday.

(Barbados Nation) – As health and environment officials focus their energies on Zika, it’s the disease that brought the Aedes Aegypti mosquito to notoriety that has been wreaking havoc on the population.

(Trinidad Guardian) Former government minister Jack Warner’s extradition proceedings took another turn yesterday when the United States government attempted to intervene in his judicial review lawsuit challenging Attorney General Faris Al-Rawi’s decision to sign off on its request to have him extradited to face charges in the ongoing Fifa bribery scandal.

(Trinidad Guardian) Central Trinidad Steel Limited (Centrin) terminated the services of over 200 employees on Thursday, prompting the Steel Workers Union of T&T (SWUTT) to call for the intervention of Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley.

(Trinidad Guardian) Police are working on the theory that teenaged friends—Daniel Halls and Stephan Singh—were killed in a dispute over the torching of a car.

(Jamaica Observer) Andrew Holness returned the favour, handing Portia Simpson Miller’s People’s National Party (PNP) its first one-term government on Thursday in the country’s 17th general election that ended with the tightest majority in Jamaica’s history — 33 – 30 seats.

CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuela is in advanced talks for a $5 billion loan from international banks and investment funds, the head of the central bank said yesterday, potentially providing an influx of cash for the OPEC member country, which faces heavy debt payments this year.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Haiti’s provisional president has appointed economist Fritz Jean as the new prime minister, the government said yesterday, in a step forward for the impoverished Caribbean nation that is trying to quickly hold a delayed presidential election.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – An Argentine judge has summoned former President Cristina Fernandez for questioning in a probe into the sale of dollar future contracts at below market rates by the central bank just months before she handed over power in December.

Former employees of Centrin display their dismissal letters outside the company’s compound, Point Lisas, Couva, yesterday, where they called on Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley to intervene on their behalf.

KINGSTON, (Reuters) – Jamaica’s opposition narrowly won a general election on Thursday, with its message of deep tax cuts and massive job creation winning over voters weary of years of tough IMF-mandated austerity measures.

BUENOS AIRES, (Reuters) – An Argentine prosecutor who died last year just days after accusing then-President Cristina Fernandez of covering up Iran’s alleged role in the bombing of a Jewish center was apparently murdered, an official investigating the case said yesterday.

SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Federal police raided the offices of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau SA yesterday and summoned its chief executive to testify on suspicion the company evaded hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes.

(Trinidad Guardian) The two bodies found in a forested area in St Augustine on Tuesday evening were identified  yesterday as teenage schoolboys Stephan Singh and Daniel Halls.

SAO PAULO, (Reuters) – Brazil’s Supreme Court yesterday authorized formal investigations into potential corruption involving President Dilma Rousseff’s former chief of staff, as well as the mayor of the country’s largest city and an opposition senator.

LA PAZ, (Reuters) – Bolivian President Evo Morales acknowledged defeat in a referendum that would have cleared the way for him to run for a fourth term in 2019, saying in a speech yesterday that he would respect the decision of the people.

SAO PAULO/LIMA, (Reuters) – Brazilian police have uncovered evidence that Peruvian President Ollanta Humala may have received $3 million in bribes from engineering and construction conglomerate Odebrecht, according to federal court filings in Brazil.

RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – The architect of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff’s 2010 and 2014 campaigns, João Santana, landed in Brazil from the Dominican Republic yesterday and was taken in a police jet to the city of Curitiba, the epicentre of a massive corruption probe, his spokesman said.

HAVANA, (Reuters) – Cuba’s tourism boom continues at a record pace but is expected to cool off during 2016 with the government forecasting nearly 6 percent growth this year after a 17 percent increase in 2015.