BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – One after his ruling Democratic Labour Party (DLP) scored a narrow two seat majority in the general election, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart has announced the composition of his Cabinet dropping former Commerce and Trade minister Haynesley Benn. In a television broadcast on Thursday night, Prime Minister Stuart said the new members of his Cabinet had been chosen in pursuit of his commitment to maintaining the highest standards of leadership.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago government has announced plans to give soldiers powers similar to that of the police as it moves to crack down on an escalation of crime in the country.
The coalition People’s Partnership government is tabling legislation Friday that will give members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) authority to function and perform the duties of a police officer.

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC - An outbreak of gastroenteritis has struck almost 30 patients and staff at the King Edward VIII Memorial Hospital. This has resulted in the quarantine of one of the wards at the institution. A spokesperson from the Bermuda Hospital Board said access to Gordon Ward is likely to be restricted through Friday. Five staff members

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC –The Bermuda government says it will crack down on tax dodgers who owe it a whopping US$85 million in unpaid taxes. A Finance Ministry spokesman said the sum is the total amount of unpaid tax receivables more than 90 days old at the end of 2012. The bulk of the figure, which does not include social insurance contributions, comes from unpaid payroll tax and represents almost 10 per cent of government’s estimated $871 million revenue for the coming financial year.

WASHINGTON, CMC – A top United States Department of Homeland Security official in charge of deportations has stepped down in the aftermath of a flap over the release of Caribbean and other detainees.
Gary Mead’s departure comes after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Monday released hundreds of immigrants from jails and detention centers across the country.

KINGSTON, JAMAICA, CMC - The authorities are trying to locate the source of noxious fumes that forced the evacuation of several employees and visitors of the Central Sorting Office of the Post and Telecoms Department in the Corporate area on Thursday.
According to media reports more than 600 people were evacuated and some were rushed to the nearby Kingston PUblic Hospital for treatment.
Classes at several schools in the vicinity of the Central Sorting Office were also suspended because as the  fumes started to affect the institutions.

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – Haiti’s former dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier appeared in court for the first time on Thursday to face charges for corruption and serious human rights violations during his 15-year rule.
Fighting efforts to be placed on trial, Duvalier, 61, failed to show up in court on three previous occasions but the judge responded to his no-show by issuing a warrant ordering prosecutors to ensure his presence in court even if it had to be done under police escort

CASTRIES, St.Lucia, CMC-Prime Minister Kenny Anthony says the negotiations between Government and Public Sector Unions have reached an impasse and has recommended that the issue be sent to arbitration.
In an address to the nation on Wednesday Anthony said the government is unable to improve on the 4% offered to the Trade Union Federation which is seeking an increase of 6 or 9.5% with conditions. As a result Dr. Anthony said the government’s option is either wage restraint or retrenchment.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas has announced a minor re-shuffle of his Cabinet following a High Court ruling on Thursday that the appointment of Jason Hamilton as the Attorney General and as a fourth Senator in the National Assembly was declared null and void.
In a radio and television broadcast on Thursday night, Dr. Douglas said that Education and Information, Agriculture, Marine Resources and Cooperatives Nigel Carty had resigned to facilitate the re-appointment of Hamilton, the youngest ever attorney general here, back into his post.

Georgetown, Guyana– CMC - Seven months after the uprising in the mining town of Linden, Guyana which led to the deaths of three protestors, Lensley Wolfe, Chairman of the Linden Commission of Inquiry, on Thursday handed over the report of the Commission to President Donald Ramotar.
"It was indeed a most grueling experience but the focus of all the commissioners was on ensuring that justice is done and we, all of us, are satisfied that justice has been done," Wolfe said.