Antigua made deal with Britain not to seek death penalty

Read storyProsecutors in Antigua have been blocked from seeking the death penalty by an agreement with Britain.

The island asked for help after a Welsh couple on honeymoon was killed last year.

Scotland Yard agreed to help but only if the government agreed not to carry out the death penalty.

Two local men, Avie Howel, 18, and Kaniel Martin, 21, were charged with murder last August.

Read more here

Full Story in The Tribune here

Pindling drug story praised and hated

Read storyAn article connecting former Prime Minister Sir Lynden Pindling and Columbian Drug dealer Joe Lehder has attracted praise and condemnation.

The Tribune article (available here, Part II here) suggested that pilot Chauncey Tynes was killed because he knew of the close connection between the country's first Prime Minister, Lehder and a senior police officer.

Former PLP backbencher Edmund Moxey supported the article, saying "young Bahamians need to know their history".

Political activist Paul Moss said the article was "repulsive" and a "desecration".

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Broken barge means no water for eastern New Providence

Read storyResidents of eastern New Providence have had little to no water for the last two weeks because of a problem with the barge that brings water daily.

The Water and Sewerage Corporation said the barge is being repaired in Florida and should be operational again by the end of the week.

Water has been off for the last two weekends for some and low otherwise.

Residents with low or no water for extended periods are asked to call 302-5599.

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Officers from 8 countries at Defence Force for training

Read story
Officers from the US Coast Guard gave lessons in boarding vessels and the differences between cooperative and uncooperative suspects.

US Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Matthew Rouse demonstrated how to attack pressure points, handcuffing procedures as well as how and when to use more force.

Officers from defense services from The Bahamas, St Vincent and Grenadines, St Kitts- Nevis, Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, Belize, Barbados and the Dominican Republic were all at the Coral Harbour base Monday for Exercise Tradewinds 2009.

More photos here

Fisherman sells boat to avoid jail

Read storyA fisherman sold his boat after a judge told him to pay his National Insurance or face jail time.

Colin Fox, 53, owed $700 in National Insurance contributions.

He said he had received no warning about his lack of payment until he was summoned to court.

In a panic he sold his boat for half its retail value to avoid a prison term.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Baha Mar announces new deals with China

Read storyThe president of Baha Mar Resorts recently announced an agreement signed with Chinese investors to go ahead with the multi-billion dollar resort.

Although the agreements are described by hotel executives as preliminary, they include deals with the China State Construction Engineering Corporation to build the resort and a memorandum of understanding regarding project financing was signed with Export-Import Bank of China.

Baha Mar President Dan Robinson announced the agreements in China but, speaking to The Guardian at a seminar in the Bahamas, CEO Sarkiz Izmirlian said:

"The China State Construction Company will be the general contractor and [will] build the project. They will also be an investor in the project and then the China Exim Bank will finance the project."

"We're going to be operating the casino and the casino hotel and we're the developer. We put all this thing together."

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Government approves food price increase

Read storyThe government has approved price increases for several basic food items, including evaporated milk, butter, sugar, cheese, flour, and margarine.

A few items also went down in price. See the full story for more prices and differences in the family islands.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Miss Teen Bahamas – apply online

Read storyYoung women interested in this year's Theodore Elyett’s Miss Teen
Bahamas have been invited to apply online at www.missteenbahamasworld.com.

An information session will be held this Saturday at the Wyndham Nassau Resort.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Woman on woman cutlass attack

Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: A 27-year-old woman is in hospital after she was attacked by a woman with a cutlass Friday.

The woman, a resident of Jervis Crescent was attacked in the Garden Villas area. She was in Rand Memorial Hospital up to Monday evening.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Abaco crime reports resume

Read storyABACO: Assistant Commissioner of Police Hulan Hanna said police will again be making reports available to the press in Abaco.

The publishers of The Abaconian, David and Kathy Ralph were concerned last week after Supt Sean Neville-Smith allegedly told the local newspaper that it would no longer receive crime reports “because they reflect badly on the police.”

See other CBN stories about this subject here

Full Story in The Tribune here

Doctor made several mistakes according to witness

Read storyA doctor made several errors in treating one of his patients and it might have led to heart failure, a court heard Monday.

Dr Andrew Selwyn, a cardiologist from Boston, said Dr Ian Kelly should have done several things differently in the case of Christopher Rogers.

Rogers, whose heart failed after weeks under Kelly's care, has taken legal action against the doctor.

Selwyn said Kelly should have been concerned about Rogers high score on a type of blood test, should have done a differential diagnoses and should have noticed the patient's fever and weight loss, which he said was a clear sign of infection.

Failure to figure out what was wrong with Rogers worsened his condition and caused more damage.

Eventually the infection spread to Roger's heart.

Full Story in The Tribune here

Former minister has stroke during sermon

Read storyFormer PLP minister Kendal Nottage had a pacemaker implanted after he suffered a stroke Sunday.

Nottage, who left politics for the church in 1992, ended a sermon abruptly and was taken to hospital in an ambulance.

His brother, Dr Bernard Nottage said the minister had not suffered any brain damage although they are monitoring him closely.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Amnesty asks public to get involved

Read storyAmnesty International has renewed it's calls for inspections at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre.

In a letter issued to media as well as several ministers, the group said it is concerned about reports that inmates, including women and children, are marched outside three times a day for head counts and are pushed around with officers guns.

Other reports include overcrowding problems, inmates sleeping on the floor and a lack of appropriate attention to asylum requests.

Amnesty International wants an independent investigation and has asked the public to request an immediate and thorough investigation into claims of abuse at the centre.

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

Expectant father becomes murder victim 13

Read storyA taxi driver was fatally shot at The Big Yard nightclub early Monday morning.

Gentry McPhee became the 13th murder victim this year aftare an argument turned more violent.

Shots injured his abdomen and hand. He died soon after arriving at Princess Margaret Hospital.

McPhee and his wife were expecting their second child in seven months.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A1)

TED: How to make happiness

I think psychologist Dan Gilbert offers some startling perspectives on happiness in this talk. He can be a little convoluted at times but it's worth watching more than once.

Most interesting was the value of synthetic happiness, which is human's ability to feel good about a situation even when it seems impossible.

Gilbert also shows how choice can be the enemy of happiness.

He has another talk that I plan to share soon so if you don't like this one you probably want to mark it boring.

PM Warns: $60m shipyard is not necessarily permanent

Read storyGRAND BAHAMA: A new $60 million drydock opened in Grand Bahama last Saturday, expanding a service that already serves 70 percent of the cruise ships in the region.

The drydock is one of the largest in the world at 310 meters by 54 meters wide.

It is the third drydock at the Grand Bahama Shipyard.

At the opening, Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham welcomed the investment but also expressed a note of caution:
"We here in the Bahamas are fully cognizant of another reality and that is this shipyard is mobile. It can be picked up and taken away any day."

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Full Story in The Tribune here

Additional coverage in The Tribune here

CoB developing Creole textbook

Read storyThe College of The Bahamas is working on what could become the most functional and up-to-date Creole textbook.

Lecturer Frenand Leger has been given a $3,500 research grant to develop a textbook focused on modern teaching methods.

Leger envisions a text with photos of Haitian people and culture accompanied by audio lessons, a workbook and a website.

The move is part of the College's aim to encourage research and increase its international presence. Last year CoB awarded thousands of research dollars to faculty to pursue various projects.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Child's body found in burnt home

Read storyFirefighters discovered what they believe is the body of a four-year-old girl in a home that burned down Saturday night.

Neighbors who tried to stop the fire say the building was engulfed in flames when they got there.

They told The Tribune that the child was in her stepfather's care and was alone in the house at the time.

The death is the first fire-related death of 2009.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

Full Story in The Tribune here (Page A01)

Bahamians have $23 million tied to CLICO - including pensions

Read storyBahamians have $23 million tied into long term investments in CLICO Bahamas, including $800,000 in ZNS pension funds and $3 million in annuity payments from Bahamasair.

There are nearly 400 similar accounts in CLICO's records; some deposits range from $100, others are several million.

At least four people have accounts of more than $1 million.

Prime Minister Ingraham said last week it was too early to tell if policy holders would lose money as a result of the company's liquidation.

He also said that annuity holders "are not likely to be as favorably rewarded at the end of the day as some other policyholders."

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here

See other CBN stories about this subject here

Junkanoo heads to Georgia

Read storyJunkanoo is heading to Georgia this week, as Barabbas and the Tribe prepare for their annual visit.

Quenton "Barabbas" Woodside originally took the group as a birthday present to his friend, Jack Flanigan who lives in Tybee Island.

The group was a hit, performing at Flanigan's restaurant and in the town's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

That was in 2004 and Woodside has been back every year since, despite increasing difficulty finding funding to make the trip.

This year he is appealing to the public for support for what has become an unofficial Junkanoo ambassadorship.

Full Story in The Nassau Guardian here