Archives for Friday, June 24, 2005:

Judge in Aruba arrested in missing teen case

ORANJESTAD, Aruba (UPI):  The father of a teenage suspect in the disappearance of an Alabama teenager in Aruba was arrested Thursday in connection with the case, CNN reported.. read more...

Four dead in oil tanker explosion in Trinidad

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Four persons are dead after an explosion ripped a gaping hole on the deck of an oil tanker, the "Tradewind Sunrise" which was anchored off the coast of Chaguaramas, Trinidad.  Emergency officials told Caribbean Net News that the incident took place at about 2:25 pm on Wednesday while welding work was being done.. read more...

Tourists robbed in Antigua, hospitality officials concerned

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua: The recent, separate robberies of two British tourists have hospitality officials in Antigua expressing concern over visitor safety, in light of the negative publicity given the Dutch Caribbean island of Aruba, following the case of Natallee Holloway, an 18-year-old high school graduate who disappeared late last month... read more...

Cingular denies leaving Caribbean because of losses or poor performance

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Cingular Wireless says it sold its operations in the Caribbean not because of losses or poor performance in the market, but because its business focus is solely now on doing business in the United States.. read more...

Caribbean concerned over EU's proposed sugar price cut

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AFP): The Caribbean's sugar producers on Wednesday expressed concern that a European Union proposal to slash EU guaranteed sugar prices would cripple their weak economies... read more...

St Kitts-Nevis forge stronger links with Thailand

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts:  Health and wellness tourism initiatives, health care financing and health systems management and the need for a diplomatic presence in South East Asia were among areas discussed Monday between the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis and the Kingdom of Thailand... read more...

Spain says it will pull troops from Haiti

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (UPI): Spanish officials have said they would pull troops from Haiti by the end of the year because of the lack of international aid making it to the country... read more...

Jamaica/China push development agenda for UN reform

BEIJING, China:  Jamaican Prime Minister P. J. Patterson said that UN reform must go beyond the Security Council and place the greatest emphasis on the development agenda, including the equitable distribution of the world’s resources and changes to the world economic structure to allow all countries to be part of the decision making process ... read more...

BVI man sentenced to life imprisonment

ROAD TOWN, British Virgin Islands: A 26-year old man who hacked his 13-year old brother in law to death at Major Bay, East End last year, was given a life sentence after being found guilty in the British Virgin Islands High Court Thursday ... read more...

Nevis Island Administration takes measures to mitigate against disasters

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: Following last week’s floods on Nevis, Premier Vance Amory is assuring Nevisians that his administration is continuing to look at some of the critical areas to determine what is to be done urgently to make some corrective and mitigative measures to minimise additional damage in the future... read more...

Guyana opposition urges parliamentary debate on national drug master plan

GEORGETOWN, Guyana: Guyana’s main opposition party, the PNC/R (People’s National Congress/Reform), has broken its silence on the Government’s recently unveiled 5-Year National Drug Strategy Master Plan calling for the plan to be laid in the National Assembly for debate... read more...

Urgent call for Caribbean nations to transform traditional agricultural economy

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Caribbean nations must urgently transform from traditional agriculture production, to services and information-based economies or they will lose the opportunity to achieve developed nation status. So says Cable & Wireless (St. Kitts and Nevis), Chief Executive Officers, Ms. Patricia Walters... read more...

Drug Control Programme to commence in Grenada next month

ST. GEORGE’S Grenada: A new Community Outreach Program will be undertaken in Grenada by the Drug Control Secretariat, in collaboration with the Youth Department... read more...

Antigua-Barbuda makes case for community whaling

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua: Antigua and Barbuda continues to make its voice heard at the 57th annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission slated to be concluded in Ulsan South Korea on Friday 24 June 2005. Ambassador Anthony Liverpool urged members of the Commission to respect the tradition of whale consumption among communities ... read more...

Digicel awaits regulatory approval from Caribbean territories

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Digicel is now awaiting regulatory approval from the governments of Barbados and 13 other territories to operate Cingular Wireless networks in those countries... read more...

OECS leaders want measures to reverse widening trade gap with CARICOM

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Leaders of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) have taken measures to address the widening trade gap between the sub-regional grouping and CARICOM... read more...

EC$10m in Government/Stanford alliance to boost small business in Antigua-Barbuda

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua: Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Baldwin Spencer, and R. Allen Stanford, CEO of Stanford Group (Antigua), anticipate a big boost for small business with the activation in a few weeks of the EC$10 million small entrepreneur empowerment fund.  The entrepreneurial programme is a business-stimulating plan... read more...

New water utility for St Lucia

CASTRIES, St. Lucia: Efforts continue in St Lucia at laying the ground work for the coming into being of a new water utility company come the first quarter of 2006. The new company will be a public/private sector partnership, and is seen as a critical part of the overall water sector reform initiative currently taking place... read more...

Twenty-nine St Kitts-Nevis students graduating from Cuban universities in 2005

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: Nine physicians, a dentist and two psychologists are expected to be among 29 Kittitians who are graduating from universities in the Republic of Cuba by September this year.  The 29 are among 74 Kittitian and Nevisian students who are expected to complete degrees between May and December... read more...

“Nuttin But … Nonsense in Nevis” launched

CHARLESTOWN, Nevis: An opinionated social commentary expressed through the use of facts, fictions, fables and verses, “Nuttin But ….. Nonsense in Nevis”, was officially launched by Premier and Minister of Education and Library Services, Vance Amory, on Wednesday afternoon June 22 during an appreciation ceremony... read more...

LETTERS

Readers’ letters about the ongoing investigation in Aruba

The ongoing investigation in Aruba continues to generate a great number of emails to Caribbean Net News from readers expressing a wide range of opinions... read more...

What is Plan B?

So it has now been publicly announced that an official tour partner for the Cricket World Cup (Cricket Logistics) has been appointed.  However, I notice there was no mention of the actual dates that the new consortium is contracting hotel rooms for in Barbados... read more...

Message for the Jamaican Minister of Tourism

This message is for the Jamaican Minister of Tourism, Mrs Aloun Ndombet Assamba... read more...

SPORTS NEWS

Ganga and Marshall miss out: West Indies A vs. Sri Lanka A Day One

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka: Darren Ganga and teenaged opener Xavier Marshall missed out on making centuries as West Indies ‘A’ suffered a typical batting collapse and were dismissed 295 on the opening day of the first “unofficial” Test match against Sri Lanka A at the Rangiri Dambulla Stadium on Wednesday... read more...

Powell to face Gatlin in Rome's Golden League meet

PARIS, France (AFP): Jamaica's world record holder Asafa Powell will face American Olympic gold medallist Justin Gatlin in the 100m at the Golden League meeting in Rome on July 8, the IAAF said Thursday... read more...

Darren Ganga says A-team playing for psychological factor

DAMBULLA, Sri Lanka:  Darren Ganga, captain of the West Indies A-team currently on a one month of in Sri Lanka, insisted that if his team can come away victorious in their series against Sri Lanka 'A' it would be a great psychological factor for the senior side in their upcoming Test and one-day series... read more...

Three players accept WICB invitation to tour Sri Lanka

PORT-OF-Spain, Trinidad:  Another contract brawl between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and the West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) has left doubts in the West Indies' plans to tour Sri Lanka next month... read more...