PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Pressure mounted on Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar Wednesday to dismiss her National Security Minister Austin “Jack” Warner over the existence of “an illegal Flying Squad” operating in Trinidad and Tobago.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC - The chair of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Trust says he will ensure that a complaint made by Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves about two BBC journalists “is properly pursued through the BBC complaints process.” Gonsalves wrote to Lord Chris Patten on Friday to complain about the “rude” and “unprofessional” approach of journalists Matthew Hill and Paul Kenyon when they questioned him aboard an airplane in Barbados on February 17 about an allegation.

CASTRIES, St.Lucia, Feb. 28, CMC - Opposition Leader Stephenson King wants St.Lucia's Ambassador to the United Nations recalled following what he described as an embarrassing ordeal with the island losing its voting rights as a result of outstanding monies owed to the body. King told a news conference Wednesday that the development was an embarrassment not only for the government but the people of St.Lucia. He said that the excuses being made by Ambassador Menissa Rambally are quite "disappointing and astounding" and she should be immediately recalled.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – The National Association of Agricultural, Commercial and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), Wednesday warned that its members employed at the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) would remain off the jobs accusing the company of reneging on the collective labour agreement regarding salaries. "Unless they stick to what is in our agreement like they want us to stick we will not be taking part in any more production and distribution of electricity," NAACIE general secretary Kenneth Joseph said.

PROVIDENCIALES, Turks and CAICOS Islands, CMC - Britain says it will not impose a Value Added Tax (VAT) in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) after both the government and the opposition said they were against the tax measure. Foreign and Commonwealth Minister with responsibility for the Caribbean, Mark Simmonds, in a letter to Premier Dr. Rufus Ewing, however indicated that London is of the view that the TCI government has a responsibility to ensure sound finances in the British Overseas Territory.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Prime Minster Dr. Denzil Douglas says St. Kitts and Nevis has approached the challenge of debt-reduction by entering into in-depth, sustained, and ultimately successful negotiations with its creditors. He said his administration had also used a small portion of its assets to create a Special Purpose Vehicle capable of reducing the debt by nearly 50 per cent within a one year period. “We took this approach to debt-reduction as a means of encouraging and facilitating private sector growth,” Dr. Douglas said at the launch of the Caribbean Growth Forum, St.

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — Researchers steering a remote-controlled submarine around the world's deepest known hydrothermal vents have collected numerous samples from sunless depths of the Caribbean Sea where blazing hot, mineral-rich fluid gushes from volcanic chimneys that look like gnarled tree stumps.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Chronicle - THE ORGANISASTION of American States (OAS) is scheduled to hold its 43rd General Assembly in June when elections will take place for the posts of Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General (ASG). Neither of the incumbents—Secretary General Miguel Insulza, a former Foreign Minister of Chile, and Assistant Secretary General Albert Ramdin, the Suriname-born diplomat and former Assistant Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARIC0M)—is eligible to seek re-election.

(Jamaica Gleaner) The President of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has responded to concerns that the court is susceptible to political interference because of the small space in which it operates. Delivering a public lecture at the University of the West Indies last evening, Sir Dennis Byron, said he was aware of opposition to Jamaica’s adoption of the CCJ as its final court. However, he says concerns about the ability of the court’s judges to remain independent because of issues of familiarity are unfounded.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Advocate - THE Principal of the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies is asking government to sit down with them and develop a strategy for its growing debt problem. Professor Sir Hilary Beckles maintained that the debt problem began to increase significantly with the death of former Prime Minister and Minister of Finance David Thompson, who had a firm grasp on the University’s finances.