Hundreds of Cubans are rushing to repair their homes.

They're cashing in on a government announcement that private citizens can construct buildings for the first time in decades.

	Many want to take advantage of the newly announced housing measure

President Raul Castro announced the new measure on Sunday.

It allows Cubans to build houses using private funds, once they follow guidelines set by the government on the dimensions and size of the dwelling.

Previously all homes in Cuba were provided by the state, with private construction prohibited.

The government believes the new policy will allow the quick construction of hundreds of thousands of new buildings.

Haitian migrants sent home

The US Department of Homeland Security says the crew of a coast guard vessel based in south Florida has repatriated more than 200 Haitian migrants within the past week.

The announcement has come amid a report that the Bush administration has rejected a request by Haitian President René Préval for what's called temporary protected status -- or TPS -- for tens of thousands of undocumented Haitians.

That would have allowed them to stay in the US until their homeland recovers from a string of deadly hurricanes last year.

Haitian groups say they plan to resend the request to the incoming Barack Obama administration.

Liat's flight claims rejected

Airport authorities in Antigua have rejected claims by regional air carrier Liat that they are mostly to blame for recent flight delays.

Director of Operations of the Antigua & Barbuda Airport Authority Edward Gilkes says a flow control system currently in place is a routine safety measure can only partially be rsponsible for the airline's cancellations.

The system limits the number of landings over a certain time period.

It had been thought that the measure was a form of industrial action by the Air Traffic Controllers over outstanding grievances.

But officials deny this.

Lawyer contests death penalty jibe

One of St Lucia's leading criminal lawyers has taken issue with suggestions by the national security minister that defence lawyers are to blame for delays in executing convicted murderers.

Alberton Richelieu instead blames lax attitudes within the administration.

The attorney made the comments against the backdrop of a renewed debate on whether the country should resume the death penalty, amid an unprecedented violent crime wave.

Police killings condemned

Human rights groups in the Dominican Republic have expressed outrage at the number of deaths caused by police guns so far this year.

The police themselves have acknowledged that twelve people have been killed, calling them criminals.

Rights organisations hit back by condemning what they call extra-judicial or unlawful executions, which they say ran into the hundreds last year.

Guyana government pledges flood funds

The Guyana government has pledged to spend millions of dollars to end a recurring annual flooding nightmare for thousands of farmers and households.

President Bharrat Jagdeo says he will however have to divert funds from already approved projects to pay for new flood defences.

Every year since the disastrous 2005 Great Flood, as it has become known, the authorities have been forced to release water from a massive water Conservancy to avoid a major catastrophe in case its earthen dam collapses or overflows.

Tourism hurt by resort closure

The closure of the Four Seasons Resort in Nevis is being seen as a blow to tourism in St Kitts and Nevis.

	There's concern that recently negotiated airlift could suffer from the Four Seasons Resort closure

Government minister Richard Skerrit has said the closure will "hurt the federation in several ways", including fewer visitors on the ground spending.

Senator Skerrit said St Kitts and Nevis would also be hurt because a percentage of the visitors were arriving on international airlift that the government had contracted with airlines like British Airways to supply.

He said it might now be a little more difficult to fill seats and it "puts the airlift arrangement at a bit more of a risk".

Four Seasons, a major employer in Nevis, suffered hurricane damage last year.

Rihanna agrees to cover up

R&B sensation Rihanna will shun skimpy outfits when she performs in Malaysia next month, according to concert organisers.

The Barbadian has become the latest international star affected by strict rules on performers' dress in the Muslim-majority nation.

As one report playfully said, the "good girl gone bad" has promised to be good for one night.

Under Malaysian government guidelines, a female performer must be covered from the top of her chest, including her shoulders, to her knees.