The Prime Minister of Bermuda, Ewart Brown, has survived a parliamentary no-confidence vote brought forward by the opposition.

	No change of leadership, as premier survives no-confidence vote

The vote followed his decision last week to accept four Chinese detainees from the US Guantanamo detention centre.

The no-confidence measure was defeated by a vote of 22 to 11.

The British foreign ministry had questioned Mr Brown's authority to allow the men, from China's Uighur muslim minority, to settle in Bermuda without prior consultation with London, which holds control over Bermuda's foreign policy decisions.

Antigua regulator implicated in Stanford case

A former Antiguan bank regulator has been implicated in the Allen Stanford fraud.

Prosecutors for the US Securities and Exchange Commission filing the new charges on Friday said the regulator should have caught the fraud but instead took bribes to let the scheme continue.

Sir Allen Stanford and four others were charged with 21 counts of fraud, money laundering and obstruction on Friday.

The Texan billionaire appeared in court in Richmond, Virginia accused of defrauding investors of billions of dollars over a ten year period mainly through his Antigua based Stanford International Bank.

Sir Allen faces approximately 250 years in prison if found guilty of all charges.

His lawyer said in a written statement that Stanford who has always maintained innocence was confident he would not be found guilty if given a fair trial.

Swine flu ship gets tight security

Aruba’s port authorities have installed a tight security cordon around the swine flu hit cruise ship Ocean Dream in the Aruba harbour.

All 900 passengers are being tested for signs of the H1N1 virus after three crew members tested positive.

Eleven others showed symptoms.

The ship returned to Aruba on Thursday night from Venezuela after it was denied entry to several Caribbean ports including Barbados and Grenada due to the presence of infected people on board.

Helicopters, coast guard vessels, masked medical workers and security officials have been keeping the ship in lockdown while passengers including four from Aruba are screened.

Caribbean Games canceled over swine flu fears

The authorities in Trinidad have cancelled the inaugural Caribbean Games, scheduled to be held next month over swine flu fears.

The minister of health said the risk of spread was too great to host the games.

The cancellation came as two thousand athletes and officials from 40 countries were to gather in Trinidad for the games in July.

Trinidad as already confirmed 18 cases of the H1N1 virus.

Minister of Health Jerry Narace said none of the people had severe attacks of the flu, but was concerned that large gatherings could lead to a spread of the virus.

Haiti security high ahead of Sunday’s elections

Security forces in Haiti are on high alert leading into a second round of Senate elections on Sunday.

There have already been clashes between supporters of President Rene Preval's Lespwa movement and an opposition party in which a man was killed.

The elections have been criticised for barring, on technical grounds, all candidates from exiled former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide's Fanmi Lavalas party.

The first round vote in April was marred by a low turnout - about 10 per cent - and allegations of voter fraud.

Haiti has seen a spate of violence this week unrelated to the elections.

Liat lambasted

Mr Chastenet has repeatedly made public his displeasure with the airline.

Today he called for an investigation into its fares, add-on taxes and fuel surcharge, claiming that Liat's price structure is hurting intra-regional travel and tourism.

Furthermore, he wants the country's prime minister Stephenson King to bring up the Liat issue - again - during next month's Caricom leaders summit in Guyana.

US says sorry for slavery

The National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) in the US has welcomed an apology by the Congress for slavery.

NAACP spokesman Hilary Shelton told BBC Caribbean the measure was long overdue.

	US Congress has apologised for slavery

“The Congress, the most powerful governmental body in the US has decided it is time to recognise this wrong doing.

The first step in ending problems in your society is to acknowledge them and acknowledges the role that Congress played and that our country played in slavery.”

The unanimous voice vote on Thursday came five months after Barack Obama became the first black US president and ahead of Friday’s celebration of the emancipation of African Americans at the end of the US civil war in 1865.

The bill states that the US Congress acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality and inhumanity of slavery, and Jim Crow laws that enshrined racial segregation at the state and local level in the United States well into the 1960's.

However, the resolution comes with a disclaimer saying that nothing in the apology supports or authorizes reparations for the descendants of African American slaves which has angered some black lawmakers.

The NAACP said the disclaimer would not stop the push for reparations.

But, the Congressional Black Caucus said there were some ‘serious concerns’ but is yet to outline its position towards the legislation.