The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, has announced plans to improve the terms of the Petrocaribe oil accord - under which Venezuela provides oil at preferential terms to seventeen developing countries in the Caribbean and Central America.

	Hugo Chavez takes another look at Petro Caribe

Speaking at a meeting of the Petrocaribe group, Mr Chavez said that the member countries will only have to pay for forty-percent of the oil they purchase in the first ninety days and will then have up to twenty-five years to pay the remaining sixty-percent.

He said that this would help poor countries like Haiti better deal with spiralling oil prices in the international markets.

Corruption probe set up

The governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands has announced the creation of a commission to investigate allegations of corruption in the British territory.

Governor Richard Tauwhare, who is leaving his post shortly, said the panel will try to determine if there has been "corruption or other serious dishonesty" in the government.

A committee of the British House of Commons issued a report this week calling for the appointment of the commission.

The premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands, Michael Misick, denied corruption when he appeared before the Commons committee.

Mr Misick is alleged to have amassed a fortune since being elected in 2003.

He has since dismissed the recommendation for an official enquiry.

The opposition Peoples Democratic Movement has welcomed the inquiry, which will be headed by Sir Robin Auld, a former appeal court judge in Britain.

Trinidad gets UK visa warning

The foreign ministry in Trinidad and Tobago has said it is taking very seriously a threat by Britain to impose travel restrictions on nationals of the two-island republic.

London has warned that if Port of Spain does not correct problems of drug traffickers and over-stayers within six months, its nationals will have to get visas to land in the UK as is the case with Guyanese and Jamaicans.

Trinidad and Tobago foreign minister, Paula Gopie-Scoon also told reporters there an additional problem was caused by Jamaicans who acquire Trinidad passports to enter the UK.

Crime gets more sinister in Jamaica

Two senior police officers in Jamaica have given a chilling assessment of the country's trigger-happy criminals and its notoriously slow justice system.

They said about 150 criminal gangs are active, with at least twelve considered so dangerous that they'll stop at nothing but murder.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Owen Ellington told a group of business owners these gangsters are devising sinister methods to track down and murder witnesses.

He said the gangs manipulate power and can actually determine which political candidates run for public office.

He also revealed that gang members will ask for a change of lawyers midway their trials in order to get access to their case files.

From these files they will find out the names and addresses of witnesses, who are then threatened and sometimes killed.

Meanwhile Assistant Commissioner Les Green, the British cop who is in charge of the Major Investigation Task Force, is bemoaning the state of the justice system .

The British Cop says gun crimes and murder cases in which violent criminals are implicated cannot be effectively prosecuted.
This he says is due to constant delays sometimes amounting to years for these cases to be properly disposed of:

Not the Barbadian way

The Prime Minister of Barbados has defended his government's commitment to the free movement for professionals under the Caribbean Single Market.

But Mr David Thompson says there are issues about the country’s ability to handle large numbers of migrants.

Mr Thompson has advocated a policy of managed migration for Barbados.

Speaking in the Barbadios parliament during debate of his government first budget he elaborated on his concerns.

Mr Thompson said he was worried about the conditions in which illegal migrants were sometimes forced to live in Barbados saying that was “not the Barbadian way.”

More EPA discussions planned

Britain has described Europe's Economic Partnership Agreement with the Caribbean as a mechanism intended to free up trade between the EU and the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) group of developing countries.

Caricom countries and the Dominican Republic which initialled the EPA last December expect to sign the agreement in Barbados later this month.

But Guyana has reservations and says it isn't keen to rush into signing the arrangement.

The EPA is likely to be one of the discussion points when the UK/Caribbean Forum is held in London next week.

	Guyanese exports including sugar and rice are sold on the EU market

Guyana is meanwhile about to launch a process of national consultation on the EPA issue.

This is in keeping with an earlier announcement by President Bharrat Jagdeo, that Georgetown would not sign on to the EPA until such an exercise is undertaken.

The consultation is scheduled to begin at the end of the month.

Tillman Thomas takes charge

Grenada's new Prime Minister, Tillman Thomas, was sworn in to office on Wednesday afternoon with the rest of his Cabinet members expected to take their oath of office at the weekend.

Wednesday's swearing-in followed Tuesday's general election in which Grenadians voted out the New National Party government of Dr Keith Mitchell, after thirteen years.

The National Democratic Congress of Tillman Thomas won eleven of the fifteen seats in the parliament.

Mr Thomas, a former political detainee, said he would lead a government for all Grenada.

He has been reiterating that his administration will emphasise good governance.

MPs assessing new nominee

Members of the Haitian parliament have been assessing the eligibility of educator Michelle Pierre Louis to be Prime Minister.

Haiti has been without a Prime Minister since mid-April when Jacques Edouard Alexis was fired after riots against rising food prices.

Two subsequent nominees of President Rene Preval have been rejected.
Haiti has strict nationality and residency requirements for the PM's position -- a hurdle that candidates must pass even before their policies are scrutinised.

Michelle Pierre Louis's personal life has also been put under the microscope.

Economic challenges for new government

The new government in Grenada inherits many economic challenges, such as reducing high debt and tightening fiscal discipline.

That's the assessment of the international ratings agency Standard and Poor's.

It said Prime Minister Tillman Thomas and his new team will also have to tackle long-postponed structural economic reform.

The agency also noted that, importantly, Mr Thomas will start in the environment of improved cooperation with the IMF, a critical factor in Grenada's relations with investors and creditors.

Integrity law about to take effect

Dominica's integrity legislation is to take full effect by the first of September.

This was announced in the parliament in Roseau on Thursday by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, who indicated that the necessary budgetary allocation had been made to facilitate this.

There were protests by local groups earlier this year, calling for the Integrity in Public Office act introduced in 2003, to be given full effect.

The opposition United Workers Party walked out of the parliament on Thursday just as Prime Minister Skerrit was about to present his budget, complaining about the lack of implementation of the act and alleged government corruption.

But Mr Skerrit told parliament that the opposition left because they knew the integrity legislation was being afforded appropriate attention in the new budget.

Digicel in dispute with WICB

Phone company Digicel has given formal notice of a dispute with the West Indies cricket board over the board's involvement with Sir Allen Stanford's twenty20 tournament.

	Digicel declares dispute

Digicel is the principal sponsor of West Indies cricket, and claims in a release, that the Stanford deal compromises certain exclusive rights the phone company had negotiated.

Digicel said that it had invoked the formal dispute resolution contract procedure after failing to resolve the issue with the West Indies board.

Mr Stanford's West Indies All Star XI will play England in a rich Twenty20 clash in Antigua in November.

One million US dollars will go to each player on the winning team.

Five more years

The Cuba government plans to raise the retirement age by five years as it tries to cope with an aging population.

The proposal calls men to work to 65 and women to 60.

Cuba's Social Security Minister Alfredo Morales told an Assembly committee the change would be implemented gradually over the next few years.

He said it would be presented to labor groups for consultation and will likely be approved by the National Assembly at its next meeting in December.

Cuba estimates that 25 percent of it population will be over 60 in the year 2025, a high proportion compared to other Latin American countries.

The government in Havana is also studying ways to increase the birth rate in the nation of 11 million people.

Rum and …

Lawmakers in the US Virgin Islands have ratified an agreement between a world class wine and spirits producer that could earn the territory more than $100 million a year.

The vote came at the end of two days of lengthy debate on plans by the company Diageo to build a state-of-the-art rum distillery on St Croix by 2011.

The government of the Virgin Islands would provide $165 million in bonds to build the facility and subsidize the funding of molasses to be used in the production of bulk rum.

Diageo is the manufacturer of Captain Morgan's Rum, the second largest seller of rum worldwide.

Geothermal law passed

Legislation has been passed in Nevis giving the local government the authority to exploit the island's geothermal resources.

But even before the law was passed a private company had already set up a project and started exploration.

Carlisle Powell, junior minister responsible for natural resources says with high oil prices and the high cost of electricity on the island, the authorities make no apology for pressing on with the project even before the appropriate legislation was in place.

Nevis is part of a two-island federation with St Kitts.

Suriname joins international court

The way has been paved for the Surinamese government to join the International Criminal Court.

The country's National Assembly gave its approval for this to happen in a unanimous vote on Tuesday.

For years the approval of special legislation was overshadowed by a political lobby by the US government which is against the court, as it does not grant US citizens immunity from prosecution.

Washington had threatened to withdraw aid and military support from allies which backed the ICC.

The International Criminal Court aims to prosecute all human rights violations and crimes against humanity.

Single marketing plan defended

Saint Lucia's minister of Tourism, Allen Chastanet, has brushed aside concerns expressed by Antigua's former Prime Minister, Lester Bird, over Caricom's plan to try again at marketing the region as a single Caribbean brand.

Mr Chastanet said smaller territories stand to benefit from the one Caribbean brand initiative.

In response to Mr Bird’s other worry that the governments would be footing the 60 million dollar bill for the marketing campaign.

Mr Chastanet told BBC Caribbean that hoteliers and other private sector interests in the region are fully behind the plan.

British Army seeking Caribbean recruits

Some 600 people from the Caribbean have been signed up by the British army, which is currently carrying out a recruitment drive in the region.

The British Army recruiters have visited Belize, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada, and St. Lucia. Jamaica is next on their list.

Colonel Paul Farrar, who is partly in charge of the recruitment campaign, told BBC Caribbean that the recruitment effort is more 'like a pre-selection process'.

He said those selected are offered jobs within the army and have to personally finance their trip to Britain if they choose to take up the position.

Coral reefs warning

	Going under: NOAA says Caribbean reefs in decline

The Caribbean is being warned to take swift action to protect the region's coral reefs after a study showed that around half of the corals in some parts of the Caribbean Sea were dying off.

The study was carried out by the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

It studied reefs around Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and Florida and says their findings can be used to gauge the health of corals in other parts of the Caribbean.

Co-author of the report, Jenny Waddell, told BBC Caribbean the reefs are critical 'in helping to prevent coastal erosion.'

She warned that their continued loss could have serious economic implications for Caribbean countries by affecting industries such as fisheries and tourism.

Jamaican family sues NYC

The family of a Jamaican woman who died after being left unattended on the floor of a New York hospital, have filed a lawsuit seeking damages totalling US$25-million (J$1.8 billion).

The relatives of Esmin Greene are suing King's County hospital and the City of New York for wrongful death.

Their lawyers claims that in addition to wrongful death there were acts of neglect as well as a cover-up.

New York authorities are investigating allegations that hospital staffers changed Esmin Green's medical chart after she died.

Her final moments in mid-June were captured on a security camera.

She fell from chair and according to the law suit, lay on floor in view of hospital staff for around an hour before anyone came to her aid. She was dead by then.

The video has since been posted on the internet.

Turks and Caicos scrutiny

The premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands has dismissed a scathing report by British lawmakers calling for the UK government to investigate corruption in the Caribbean dependency.

Premier Michael Misick said in a statement that the extremely critical report by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee presented an "unbalanced view" of his government.

He also suggested that the report was influenced by the opposition People's Democratic Movement.

The British committee said it had heard allegations of state land being sold off for personal gain, and bribe-taking among ministers.

The report speaks of "a palpable climate of fear" in the British territiory.

The MPs said they had received more than 50 letters from residents complaining of "rampant" corruption within the islands' government, political interference with the judiciary and the suppression of freedom of speech.

They've also said that many who complained were too scared to meet the legislators when they visited the islands on a fact-finding mission.

When questioned by the committee, the Turks and Caicos Chief Minister, Michael Misick, denied all the allegations, dismissing them as politially motivated.

It's the first parliamentary first report in a decade on Britain's fourteen remaining territories, including six in the Caribbean.

Haiti prime minister

The UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Marie Guehenno, has called on Haiti's political leaders to hammer out a speedy consensus to end a political deadlock that has gripped the nation for months.

Haiti has been without a prime minister since Jacques-Edouard Alexis resigned in April after a no-confidence vote against him.

The Haitian parliament is currently reviewing the credentials of a third nominee, after it rejected two others.

Cuba reforms

The Cuban government has listed a number of areas to be tackled as it sets about reforming the country's economy.

The Cuban Foreign Minister, Felipe Perez-Roque, puts agriculture, developing tourism and having one currency among the government's priorities.

But he said the government will move cautiously in implementing further changes:

Caricom commitment

Caricom leaders have given a commitment to ensuring that decisions taken at the regional level are implemented nationally.

A failure by national governments to implement regional decisions in a timely manner, has been one of the main criticisms of the functioning of Caricom.

All this comes out of concern over the slow pace of regional integration.

The commitment is contained in the communique issued at the end of last week's heads of Government Summit in Barbados.