Prosecutors in Suriname say they are investigating a gang suspected of trafficking young people to Trinidad and forcing them to work as slaves.

An official of Suriname's public prosecution office has been giving details of the alleged human trafficking ring to the french news agency, AFP.

According to Garcia Paragsingh, unsuspecting parents were tricked into paying a fee to send their children for catering training in Trinidad before travelling to imaginary jobs in The Netherlands.

Instead, the victims were forced to do household work and perform sexual acts in Trinidad and request more money from their parents.

Garcia Paragsingh said the alleged traffickers have taken 24 youths to Trinidad since 2007.

Hanging decision put back

Parliament in Jamaica has postponed a vote on the future of the death penalty until Tuesday.

It was supposed to have taken place yesterday but Prime Minister Bruce Golding recommended an extension to ensure that absent members of parliament could be present.

It will be a free vote, which means that MPs don't have to toe the party line.

Bank theft accused remanded

A former messenger at the Barbardos Central Bank is due to reappear in court next month in connection with the theft of US$700,000 dollars from the bank.

The bank reported last week that a quantity of new 100 dollar notes were missing.

The bank said the money was stolen between July 2006 and October this year.

Trinidad in, Jamaica out of World Cup

Trinidad and Tobago are the through the finals of the Concacaf qualifying zone for the FIFA world cup.

The Soca Warriors booked their spot with a 3-0 win over Cuba.

But Jamaica are out, despite beating Canada 3-0.

That's because Honduras beat Mexico which meant that both teams go advance.

In a meaningless match, Haiti and Suriname played to a 1-1 draw.

People satisfaction and growth

People in countries that have experienced fast economic growth in recent years are less satisfied with their lives than people in nations with slower growth rates.

That's according to a new study by the Inter-American Development Bank.

For example, satisfaction in Trinidad and Tobago, one of the countries in the Americas with the fastest growth in the region in recent years, is lower than in Guyana and Jamaica.

The findings come from a survey of more than 40,000 people in 24 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean between November 2005 and December 2007.