In Jamaica, the police were called to the community of Payne Land in St. Andrew where there have been three killings since the afternoon of Saturday,  May 10th.  It is reported that among those killed were a woman and her grandson.  A house was also fire-bombed.  And the island's murder figure continues to rise even as the security forces roll out a slew of crime fighting measures.  Police are probing the murder of Hopeton Parchment, 50, otherwise called 'Hopie" of Pretoria Road in Kingston 13.  Mr. Parchment was shot by a gunman on Berwick Road around 12.30 am Saturday.  Gunmen also shot and killed Stanford Haslam, 32, of Seaview Gardens on Friday. Mr. Haslam was reportedly walking along Penwood Road when a burgundy motor car with two men aboard drove up.  The men shot Mr. Haslam several times, killing him on the spot.  In Clarendon, Fitzroy Brown, 32, of Sevens Avenue was shot and killed at the May Pen Market on Friday evening.  Police found Mr. Brown's body lying on a bench shortly after explosions were heard. Police shot and killed Andre McNeil, 18, of Vauxhall Avenue on Friday in McIntyre Villa Housing Scheme in Kingston 16.  The police say they were on an operation in the community when Mr. McNeil was seen acting suspiciously.  It is alleged that he pointed a gun at them.  They took evasive action and shot him.  A 9 millimeter pistol with 10 live rounds was reportedly taken from him.

In St. Lucia, Police Constable Lester Remy received his final farewell on Tuesday morning throughout the streets of Castries. The officer was shot at least five times on April 27, allegedly by a man who he was pursuing in relation to a number of crimes.  Remy––on the force for nine years––was on his way to a private function, when he spotted the wanted individual and rounded up colleagues, in an attempt to take the assailant into custody. From there, the details are still under investigation, but preliminary reports suggest one officer was still in the vehicle, while Remy and the other policeman got separated. The results of a tussle between Remy and the wanted man produced a dead-on-arrival policeman and an individual bearing a gunshot wound to the leg. Remy was 27 years old.  Remy received full military honors compliments of his colleagues within the Royal St Lucia Police Force. His body lay in the staff canteen for public viewing, from there; it was met by friends and family, and toured the streets of Castries. The police band’s solemn renditions followed motorcycle outriders in the city’s main streets. Hundreds of passers-by lined the streets in an attempt to get a glimpse at the fallen officer. The procession made a one-minute stop outside the Criminal Investigation Department, where teary-eyed colleagues dressed in black said their farewell.

In the Dominican Republic campaigning is heating up as the country prepares for its Presidential election on Friday, May 16th.  President Leonel Fernandez and his Dominican Liberation Party are hoping to again defeat the main Opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party which was unseated four years ago.  Polls conducted are predicting that Prime Minister Fernandez's party will win the election.  Twenty four parties are contesting the elections and rallies are planned for the weekend into Wednesday, May 14th. Pollsters said it is a straight race between Mr. Fernandez and Miguel Vargas of the main Opposition Dominican Revolutionary Party.  Candidates must gain at least 50% of the voters to win the presidency in the first round.  If none of the candidates attain such a majority, a second poll between the two with the best results will take place 45 days later.
 

An Antigua government minister remains unapologetic over his call to arm citizens with guns to ward off would-be attacks.  Eleston "Namba" Adams who holds the culture portfolio, wants people given the option of owning a gun if they choose to.  His statement on the matter has sparked off a debate in a country trying to shake off growing tendencies towards violent crime.  Mr. Adams has been accused of advocating the use of guns generally.  But the St Paul’s MP says with an increase of rapes and other crimes citizens should be able to defend themselves.

In Jamaica, a Westmoreland gas station operator who was prosecuted for breaches of the Petroleum Corporation Act and operating without a food permit was fined just under $50,000 in the Sav-la-mar Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday, May 9th.  Carrol James the operator of the Darliston Cool Oasis Service Station, was fined $9,000 for retailing petroleum products without a license.  He was fined an additional $40,000 for operating a food establishment without a valid food handler's permit.  Mr. James is one of four operators in the parish who were prosecuted in April.  Operator of the Sav-la-mar Texaco, Roy Hutchinson, and the operator of the Whitehall Cool Oasis, Deltona Williams are scheduled to appear in the Sav-la-mar RM Court on June 3 for breaches of the Petroleum Corporation Act.  Head of the Westmoreland Island Special Constabulary Force Commander Jonathan Boyd said at least one gas station has been closed since the police started the crack down on the illegal sale of petroleum products.
 

In Grenada, British millionaire developer, Peter DeSavory, has sought to allay the fears of Grenadians who have expressed concern about his plans to build cottages along the waterfront in the capital.  The developer has insisted that only a small area of the Lagoon will be used to construct the cottages, which are part of a multi-million dollar Marina project.  The project also includes a five-star hotel and residential areas.  He was responding to objections by a local pressure group, Citizens in Defense of Grenada's Lands and Heritage, which said the project will interfere with the aesthetics of the area and will obstruct the view of the Caribbean Sea from the St. George's Lagoon.  Police tore down protest banners erected by the group on DeSavory's property.  The lobby group has been circulating a petition seeking support for its cause.

In Haiti, a court order has revealed that Spanish journalist Ricardo Ortega was shot dead by foreign soldiers in 2004. Ortega died while covering a demonstration pitting supporters and detractors of ousted president Jean-Bertrand Aristide in March.  Originally Spanish media reported that Ortega was killed by gunfire from Aristide's supporters during the protest in the capital, Port-au-Prince.  But Ortega's mother, Charo Fernandez, said that her son and his translator died more than 90 minutes later, hit by fire after coming out from a patio where they had been sheltering.   Foreign forces and U.S. marines had been sent to the poorest country in the Americas to try to keep the peace after the bloody rebellion by gangs and former soldiers against Aristide.   It is reported that the court order said there was no evidence to try the nine Haitians accused of Ortega's murder, and asked that they be freed.  

Another row over the quality of flour imported from Guyana has broken out in Antigua and Barbuda.  One of the country's leading bakers has labeled the product from Georgetown inferior to that imported from mills in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada.  Antigua and Barbuda began importing cheaper flour from Guyana a week ago to cushion the effect of a proposed 36 percent hike by the mills in the OECS.  The government's trade coordinator had at the time defended the quality of the product from the National Milling Company of Guyana.   But Bertsfield Martin of Brownies Bakery, one of the largest producers and retailers of bread and other flour-based products in St John's, Antigua says the Guyana flour does not meet their expectation.

In Jamaica, sources have confirmed that attorneys representing the joint receiver managers (Kevin Bandoian of the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers and his unnamed female partner) were granted additional time after making an application in the Supreme Court.  On March 30th, Justice McIntosh approved the appointment of Bandoian as joint receiver/manager along with the other classified party to manage the affairs of the beleaguered Cash Plus, which owes billions of dollars to its 40 lenders.  The joint receiver/managers were given 35 days to supply the court with a report on Cash Plus' status.  Following a police raid on the Norbrook Drive home of the Cash Plus Chairman Carlos Hill during the month of April, several documents were seized, some of which suggested that billions of dollars in several overseas financial institutions have been linked to Hill and Cash Plus.  The investment arm of Cash Plus, which promised high rates of interest on the contributions of investors, has been out of operation since being served last December with a cease-and-desist order by the Financial Services Commission (FSC).

Hundreds of high school students took to the streets of Suriname's capital, Paramaribo, on Wednesday, 7th demanding an immediate resolution to the ongoing strike by teachers.  The students, carrying placards and chanting slogans, gathered outside the building where government ministers were meeting for their regular Cabinet meeting and later marched through the capital disrupting traffic.  They said that the strike by the teachers would affect their final exams due in a couple of weeks.  There were minor skirmishes between students and riot police, but Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi said the lawmen had been given specific instructions not to use force on the students.  The government is seeking to end the teachers' strike for higher salaries which is into its second week.

In Jamaica, a woman who attempted to smuggle 10 pounds of marijuana to St Maarten, will have to serve at least three months in jail for the offence.  Patsy Sharifa Plinton, 30, of a Westmoreland address, pleaded guilty to possession of, dealing in and attempting to export marijuana. The court was told that Plinton was preparing to board a flight to St Maarten when her luggage was searched and two tins of cheese, containing marijuana, were found.  When she appeared in court, Plinton told Resident Magistrate Glen Brown that she was given the cheese by a man whom she only knew his first name. She told the court that the man used to live where she was living.  Plinton was sentenced to pay $15,000 or serve six months for possession. She was admonished and discharged for dealing and was ordered to pay $48,000 or serve six months for taking steps to export drugs. In addition, she will serve a mandatory three-month sentence.  If she fails to pay the fines, she will have to serve nine months in jail.

US President George Bush has again rejected calls for easing US trade restrictions in Cuba, saying that new president Raul Castro has made only empty gestures at reform.  Mr. Bush maintained Washington's hard-line stance in an address to the Council of the Americas, a business group that advocates for democracy and open markets in the Western Hemisphere.  The White House said President Bush has also told Cuban democratic activists that there has been no change at all in Cuba, since Raul Castro took over as president in February.   Mr. Castro has announced reforms in agriculture, giving farmers more control of the industry.  He has also allowed Cubans to own mobile phones and computers.  In the meantime, following his three-day official visit to Cuba, Jamaican Prime Minister, Bruce Golding on Wednesday called for the United States to lift it's economic embargo on Cuba, and undertake "constructive engagement," aimed at resolving their differences.  Mr. Golding said that the embargo, which has been maintained by successive US Governments, has failed to achieve its intended purpose, emphasizing that it belonged in the past.  The Jamaican Prime Minister said he believed that the right of the Cuban people to define the pace at which they will bring adjustments to the Cuban way of life and to the Cuban economic system should be respected; it is not something that must be imposed from outside.
 
In Jamaica, the body of 61-year-old German, Elmott Stynner, was found with multiple stab wounds to the body, lying face down along the road at Spring Bank, in Portland, on Friday, May 9th.  Detective Sergeant Ralston Henry of the Port Antonio CIB, said the body was discovered along the Spring Bank road at 1:15 a.m. on Friday with multiple stab wounds to the chest area, and slashes to the upper body, along with a large wound to the neck.   Stynner, who is also the owner of Jamaica Heights Resort, was last seen alive about 10:15 p.m. on Thursday by his wife, Christine. The couple also lived at the resort with their 10-year-old son. The body was found bare footed and he was clad in only his underwear.  Meanwhile, residents in Spring Bank are in mourning following the gruesome murder. The residents are also alleging that repeated screams for help were heard coming from near a shop in the area where the body was found.  So far no motive has been established for the brutal murder.

Jamaica’s Commerce Minister Karl Samuda is in the middle of another round of trade talks in Guyana.  Samuda hopes to persuade his Guyanese counterparts to remove their objections to Jamaica’s plans to import rice from outside the region.  Guyana is a main supplier of rice to Jamaica but has been accused of failing to live up to its obligations.   Mr. Samuda said that he will be seeking to justify Jamaica's decision to import rice from the US.  Guyana’s Agriculture Minister, Robert Persaud insisted that Guyana has not had a difficulty supplying Jamaica with the staple.  Guyana is particularly concerned that the rice Jamaica is seeking to import from outside the region is heavily subsidized and puts Guyana at a competitive disadvantage.  In the meantime,  Jamaica is setting aside almost 5 thousand acres of public land to grow rice for local consumption.  Agriculture minister, Christopher Tufton, expects the private sector to help cultivate the land.

In Haiti, Inter-American Development Bank official Ericq Pierre has moved one step closer to becoming Haiti's new prime minister.  The country made progress towards installing a new government on Wednesday, May 7th when the Senate ratified Mr. Pierre for prime minister.  The Senate approval came more than a month after violent protests over rising food prices that led to the ouster of the old government.  Ericq Pierre, if also approved by the Chamber of Deputies, would replace Jacques Edouard Alexis who was fired by the Senate on April 12 after a week of food riots that killed at least six people.

Jamaica is getting funding from the United States to help with the sale of Air Jamaica.  Washington is providing a 59 million dollar grant to assist the government in divesting the loss-making airline.  An agreement to that effect was signed this week.  Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding says the Government will try to sell the airline by the end of the current fiscal year.

The British government is scaling down its diplomatic services in the Eastern Caribbean.  Officials at the British High Commission in Antigua have announced that the commission is in the process of winding down its operations in that OECS country.   June 30 has been given as the date that the High Commission office in St John's will cease its operations on the island - but its final day of business will be earlier on June 6.  An Embassy statement said the Gordon Brown administration in London was carrying out a restructuring of its diplomatic presence in the Eastern Caribbean.  Officials say Antiguan inquiries will be handled by the British High Commission in Barbados.