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GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands, CMC – Police have extended the bail of ex premier McKeeva Bush to late March this year after he presented himself to law enforcement officers on Tuesday in keeping with the terms of his original police bail following his arrest on suspicion of theft and corruption last December. The Cayman Islands police said the investigation into the 57-year-old former head of government in this British Overseas territory “is still very active and police are following several positive lines of enquiry.

BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Police Wednesday charged junior minister Mark King with aggravated assault, use of threatening words and disorderly conduct, following a pre-dawn brawl at a casino in northern Belize over the weekend. King, 38, the junior minister of Human Development and Social Transformation, has been suspended without pay by Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He has also publicly apologised for his behaviour. The first time legislator, who will return to court on April 16, was one of two men who were thrown out of the casino after an altercation involving a member of his entourage.

WASHINGTON, CMC - The Organization of American States (OAS) has signed an agreement with the Grenada government to observe the February 19 general elections. The OAS said Secretary General José Miguel Insulza and Grenada’s the permanent representative to the hemispheric body Gillian Bristol signed the agreement on the privileges and immunities of observers, “which provides the conditions for the work of the electoral observation mission (EOM) to accompany the general elections in the country.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The Portia Simpson Miller led administration has been forced to cut its spending this year by J$10 million (One Jamaica dollar = US$0.01 cents) as it grapples with lower than projected revenue inflows. The cuts were outlined in the revision that the government has made to its spending plans for the current fiscal year, which ends next month. The governments' spending plans had been under pressure this fiscal year, as it was getting less money than needed to carry out the spending. The cuts were tabled in the Parliament on Tuesday.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – A senior government official Wednesday said Antigua and Barbuda is still open to finding a resolution to its Internet Gaming dispute with the United States even though the World Trade Organization (WTO). Trade Ambassador, Colin Murdoch, speaking on the state-owned media, said that the Baldwin Spencer government has still not yet receieved any communication from Washington since the WTO ruling last week.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC- The Coast Guard of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) has increased border patrols in the wake of reports that more Haitians could be heading towards Jamaica. The heightened concern, follows the arrival of a group of 25 Haitians in Portland on Tuesday. Deputy Director General of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, (ODPEM) Richard Thompson told reporters on Wednesday that based on information out of Haiti, nine boats left the country hoping to reach the United States.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - INTERNATIONAL JURIST Patrick Robinson is to be put forward by Jamaica for election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The announcement was made on Tuesday by Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister A.J. Nicholson as he addressed diplomats during a Diplomatic Week forum in Kingston. The election to the ICJ takes place in November 2014. 

WASHINGTON, CMC – The Congresswoman who represents the largely Caribbean 9th Congressional District in Brooklyn, New York, wants her colleagues as well as President Barack Obama to include the Caribbean Diaspora as they debate the contentious issue of immigration reform. Congress Tuesday started hearings on the issue and Democratic Congresswoman Yvette D.

WASHINGTON, CMC – The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) said they have brought together this week various stakeholders, including government representatives and academic institutions to develop a plan of action for reducing deaths caused by breast and cervical cancer.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - Jamaica has been touting its plan to develop itself as the world's fourth logistics hub, but Panama is ahead of the game and will likely take that title. Jamaica is banking on Panama's signature project, the canal expansion due for completion in 2015, to realise its own hub dream which will take a decade to realise. Panama began rolling out its hub project in 2007, known as the Panama Pacific Special Economic Area (PPSEA). The tendered project was won by British company London and Regional, which has been developing the hub in Port Arthur since then.