France says comments by the former Cuban leader, Fidel Castro, about its treatment of Roma migrants, are unacceptable.

	France labels Fidel's comments "unacceptable"

On Friday, Fidel Castro accused Paris of carrying out what he called a racial holocaust over its expulsion of members of the Roma community.

Last month the French authorities sent back hundreds of people to Romania and Bulgaria -- provoking criticism throughout Europe.

Caution on tourism

Recovery in Caribbean tourism may be more sluggish than predicted because of lower growth prospects in industrialised nations.

That's the assessment of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance of the University of the West Indies.

It said that estimates from the World Tourism Organisation suggest that recovery in tourist arrivals for the Caribbean region for the first half of 2010 is estimated as being the slowest among all regions of the world.

Last year was a tough one for the Caribbean travel trade, with a drop in tourist arrivals of 3.6% in the region as a whole.

An increase of 4.5% was reported for the first four months of this year but the climate remains challenging for a number of reasons.

The centre concluded that the economic prospects for Caribbean source markets do not auger well for growth in the region's important tourist industry.

Bajans remember arson victims

Barbadians paused for three minutes at midday local time on Friday to remember six people killed when armed robbers set fire to a clothing shop in the capital, Bridgetown.

Three staff and three customers were trapped inside the burning building on 3 September after apparently fleeing to the back of the shop to escape the flames.

The incident shocked the country but no one has been arrested so far.

Malaria rise blamed on Haitians

Health authorities in the Dominican Republic have expressed concern at an increase in malaria cases.

The Dominican public health minister, Bautista Rojas Gomez, said that the disease, an infection spread by the bite of a mosquito, had affected 1,600 people so far this year.

That's higher than the annual average of 1,500 cases registered last year.

The minister attributed the rise to an increase in Haitian migration after the earthquake that devastated the neighbouring country in January.

The malaria cases adds to the concern about dengue in the Dominican Republic.

So far this year, 41 Dominicans have died from the mosquito-borne disease.

Antilles break-up is confirmed

It is now official: The Netherlands Antilles will fail to exist as of 10-10-10 (10 October 2010).

Curacao and St Maarten will receive their country status within the Netherlands - a status short of full independence - on that date.

Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba will become municipalities within the Dutch Kingdom.

The green light paving the way for the changes was given during the final constitutional roundtable conference held in The Hague on Thursday.

Speaking from the Dutch capital, the leader of government in St Maarten, William Marlin, said that this now marks the end of a long process to acquire more autonomy and the start of a new beginning.

Pensioner jailed on drug charges

A Guyanese woman, who said she travelled to Jamaica to purchase ganja for medicinal use, has been convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to six months in prison.

Sixty-year-old Jody Ann Harmon, of Georgetown, Guyana, pleaded guilty to possession of five pounds of ganja, when she appeared before a Jamaica court.

She was arrested on Monday at the Norman Manley International Airport.

Jamaica's narcotics police division reported that Ms Harmon, who uses a walking stick, was preparing to board a Caribbean Airlines flight destined for Trinidad, when she was stopped and searched.

During a body search, officers found several packages with the drug in her underwear.

The woman is said to have told police that she was sick, and came to Jamaica to purchase ganja, because the weed in Guyana did not help her.