Carib Scope

作者： admin

  • Guyana zoekt naar gecrashte piloot nabij Braziliaanse grens

    Guyana zoekt naar gecrashte piloot nabij Braziliaanse grens

    Nearly 24 hours after a small single-engine cargo and transport plane crashed near Guyana’s western border with Brazil, specialized search and rescue units continued to comb the dense, mountainous jungle terrain on Saturday for the plane’s only occupant, its pilot.

    The 13-seat Cessna Caravan, operated by local aviation firm Air Services, was declared missing late Friday after it failed to touch down at its scheduled destination, Imbaimadai, a remote gold-mining region in southwestern Guyana. According to Guyana’s Civil Aviation Authority, the pilot was the sole person on board when the aircraft encountered severe torrential rainfall that preceded its crash into a mountainside.

    The wreckage of the downed plane was first spotted on Friday by other aircraft operating in the sparsely populated region, marking the end of the initial search phase to locate the crash site. The site sits deep within thick jungle in Guyana’s Region Eight, close to the Brazilian border, and military teams tasked with reaching the wreck had to navigate arduous terrain, cutting a path through dense 30-meter-tall forest canopy and descending steep slopes to reach the area. That detail was confirmed in an official statement released by the Guyana Defence Force.

    Small aircraft like this Cessna Caravan are a critical backbone of transportation across Guyana, a South American country with large swathes of undeveloped, roadless interior rainforest. Dozens of small planes connect remote mining, logging and indigenous communities scattered across the country’s interior, and also operate regular regional routes to neighboring countries including Brazil, Suriname and Caribbean island nations. As of Saturday afternoon, there was no update on whether the pilot has been found or what their condition is, and search efforts are ongoing.

  • Voter ID Replacement Applications continue to be slow

    Voter ID Replacement Applications continue to be slow

    As Antigua and Barbuda gears up for its upcoming general election, official data from the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission (ABEC) reveals a dramatic acceleration in voter ID replacement applications over the past two months, bringing the total number of processed requests to 27,322 to date.

    The rollout of the replacement program got off to a slow start in 2026, with just 355 applications submitted in January and 508 in February. Of the current total, 18,320 unprocessed requests were carried over from 2025, but a major surge in public engagement began in March. That month alone saw 4,168 new applications, and by the first 11 days of April, 3,971 applications had already been recorded – putting the month on track to match or exceed March’s high volume. Weekly data from April breaks this early activity into two periods: 1,071 applications between April 1 and 4, and an additional 2,894 between April 5 and 11. Figures for the second half of April have not yet been published by the commission.

    When broken down by constituency, the data reveals stark gaps in completion rates across the country. The parish of St. Peter has emerged as the clear leader, hitting an 85% completion rate that outpaces all other electoral districts. Following St. Peter are Barbuda at 75% and St. Philip North at 74%, while St. Philip South has hit 67% and All Saints West has recorded 60% completion.

    In contrast, a number of constituencies have yet to cross the 50% threshold, or are barely above the halfway mark. St. Mary’s North posts the lowest completion rate in the country at just 48%, with St. John’s Rural West at 50% and St. John’s City East at 53%. Urban constituencies centered around the capital city of St. John’s have posted only moderate progress overall, with completion rates falling between 50% and 56% – a trend that ABEC data suggests indicates slower uptake among voters in densely populated urban areas.

    While the recent surge in applications marks meaningful progress on the voter ID replacement initiative, official figures confirm that thousands of eligible registered voters have still not completed the process to replace or update their identification cards. With the general election approaching, the Antigua and Barbuda Electoral Commission is continuing its outreach campaign to encourage all eligible voters to finalize their ID replacement in advance of polling day.

  • UN maritime chief says no country has right to close Hormuz

    UN maritime chief says no country has right to close Hormuz

    LONDON (AFP) – Six weeks into open conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran that has choked off one of the world’s most critical energy and trade chokepoints, the top leader of the United Nations’ global maritime regulatory body has issued a clear legal rebuke: no nation has the authority under international law to block commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

    International Maritime Organization (IMO) Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez laid out the organization’s position during a press briefing in London, as the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea — through which roughly 20% of the world’s daily oil consumption and a large share of global liquefied natural gas trade transits — remained largely paralyzed by escalating military tensions. The conflict erupted February 28 after joint strikes by U.S. and Israeli forces against Iranian targets, after which Tehran moved to restrict access across the strait.

    In remarks that clarified the IMO’s stance on the mounting crisis, Dominguez emphasized that binding international law upholds the right of innocent passage and guarantees unimpeded freedom of navigation for all commercial vessels through international straits used for global transit. No sovereign state, he said, is legally permitted to revoke these fundamental protections.

    To date, Iranian authorities have only allowed a small, carefully vetted trickle of vessels to pass through a narrow corridor along its territorial coast. Multiple independent reports have documented that Iranian officials have demanded unofficial payments from vessel operators to grant passage, a practice Dominguez says has no standing under international rules.

    “Charging a toll for navigation through an international strait directly violates the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and long-standing customary international maritime law,” Dominguez said. “Beyond being illegal, this move sets an extraordinarily dangerous precedent that could upend decades of established norms governing global trade routes.”

    The situation has been further complicated by the United States’ recent vow to implement its own full blockade of all Iranian ports along and near the strait, set to begin this week. Dominguez noted that this additional U.S. military move does nothing to ease the already strained situation for global shipping. He added, however, that the practical impact of the U.S. blockade would likely be minimal, given how sharply traffic has already dropped since the conflict began.

    “With already just a handful of ships managing to complete transits each week, an additional blockade will not exacerbate the crisis to any significant degree that would shift the current status quo,” he explained.

    Dominguez concluded by stressing that the only sustainable path forward to resolving the crisis and restoring normal commercial shipping operations through the strait is immediate de-escalation between all conflict parties. Only through lowering tensions can global trade through this vital route return to its pre-crisis levels, he said.

  • Harvey Weinstein rape retrial to start Tuesday

    Harvey Weinstein rape retrial to start Tuesday

    The long-running legal saga of disgraced Hollywood power broker Harvey Weinstein moves into a new chapter this week, as a fresh retrial over an unresolved rape charge gets underway in a Manhattan courtroom Tuesday. Even before jury selection begins, the outcome of this proceeding carries little practical change for the 74-year-old, who already remains locked behind bars on separate convictions from other sexual assault cases.

  • St James Municipal Corporation looking at making Charles Gordon Market more manageable

    St James Municipal Corporation looking at making Charles Gordon Market more manageable

    ST JAMES, Jamaica — Local municipal leaders are moving forward with a sweeping reorganization and infrastructure upgrade of Montego Bay’s iconic Charles Gordon Market, aimed at resolving longstanding frictions between vendors, eliminating unregulated street vending, and creating a cleaner, more welcoming space for both sellers and shoppers.

    During an on-site walkthrough of the facility Monday, Richard Vernon, Chairman of the St. James Municipal Corporation and Mayor of Montego Bay, outlined the multi-pronged transformation strategy in an interview with Observer Online. At the core of the plan is a strategic rezoning of underused or vacant market space to resolve the core conflict that has left many small retail vendors at a competitive disadvantage.

    Vernon explained that for years, the market has allowed wholesale suppliers, who already bulk-sell goods to small retail vendors, to also sell directly to walk-in customers at lower price points within the same retail zones. This unfair undercutting has sparked dozens of complaints from local small vendors, who cannot match the bulk pricing wholesalers offer. To fix this imbalance, the corporation will repurpose a block of currently underused and vacant shop spaces—some of which are held by non-compliant occupants—to create a dedicated, centralized wholesale zone. The new area will also accommodate mobile wholesalers who currently sell from their vehicles, providing designated parking and selling space to keep them organized.

    Under the new layout, retail vendors will operate exclusively from the market’s main building and the existing Gun Court area, eliminating direct price competition between wholesalers and small retailers. Vernon emphasized that the reorganization will not displace compliant vendors, noting that most of the spaces being converted are already empty or held by rule-breaking occupants, leaving no legitimate seller disadvantaged by the changes.

    Beyond zoning, the overhaul will crack down on unregulated street vending, a practice that Vernon called “undesirable” and damaging to the local area. Vendors who set up unpermitted stalls along adjacent streets leave behind piles of food waste and debris, create persistent traffic congestion, block access to legally operating storefronts, and create a chaotic, uninviting environment for visitors. Going forward, all vendors will be required to operate within the official market boundaries, with new rules and enforcement to eliminate street vending entirely.

    The upgrade will also include long-overdue infrastructure repairs and amenity improvements, funded in part by insurance payouts for damage to the market’s main building caused by Hurricane Melissa. According to Vernon, the insurance funds will cover replacement of the main building’s damaged roof, upgrades to interior lighting, and general structural repairs to create a safe, comfortable space for regular vending activity.

    Additional improvements include expanding public restroom facilities to boost sanitation for both vendors and shoppers, a one-time deep clean of the entire market complex, and the hiring of a private professional cleaning company to carry out daily and weekly routine cleaning to maintain high hygiene standards long-term. The municipal corporation will also boost security presence across the market, and implement controlled access management at entry and exit points to keep vendors in designated zones and deter unregulated activity.

    Vernon emphasized that the end goal of the overhaul is to build a well-organized, safe, and comfortable market that encourages customers to return to shop for local fresh produce, while supporting small retail vendors by removing the systemic challenges that have held back business for years.

  • Family seeks answers after US influencer dies during ‘dream’ vacation with fiancé

    Family seeks answers after US influencer dies during ‘dream’ vacation with fiancé

    The family of 31-year-old American lifestyle content creator Ashly Robinson, known professionally as Ashlee Jenae, is demanding full clarity after her unexpected death during a celebratory vacation in Zanzibar with her fiancé.

    In an official statement shared to Instagram Sunday, Robinson’s relatives described the jarring speed of the tragedy: just days after the creator marked her birthday and accepted a marriage proposal from long-time partner Joe McCann, she was gone suddenly. “One moment she was celebrating love and life in truly Ashly fashion, and the next, she was gone,” the family wrote.

    The trip had been billed as a dream getaway for the couple, who had documented every step of their journey for Robinson’s 88,000+ social media followers. The milestone occasion included two huge life moments: Robinson’s 31st birthday, and McCann’s marriage proposal, both of which she shared with her online community before the unthinkable happened.

    What was supposed to be a joyous celebration quickly devolved into the family’s worst nightmare. Per the statement, Robinson was found unresponsive in her private villa at the resort. Resort staff rushed her to a nearby local medical facility, where medical personnel confirmed her death a number of hours later.

    Local police have publicly stated they are working under the initial assumption that Robinson died by suicide. Additional unconfirmed media reports have claimed that the couple experienced a verbal altercation earlier in the trip, prompting hotel management to reassign them to separate rooms for the remainder of their stay.

    Robinson’s family has rejected the tentative narrative, calling her death suspicious and saying they are collaborating closely with Zanzibari law enforcement to uncover the full facts of what led to her passing. In their statement, the family noted that the distance from their home in the United States, combined with the sudden loss and lack of clear answers, has compounded their grief beyond measure.

    “The suddenness, the unanswered questions, and the distance from home have made this tragedy even more overwhelming for our family,” the statement read. “At this time there is an active investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ashly’s suspicious passing. Although we have many questions, we are placing our trust in the officials in Zanzibar and are working closely with them as we seek clarity and answers.”

    Before her death, Robinson had built a dedicated online following as a lifestyle creator, regularly sharing candid insights into her travels, personal life, and relationship with McCann for her tens of thousands of engaged followers.

  • JTA welcomes announcement of relocation of Hurricane Melissa shelterees

    JTA welcomes announcement of relocation of Hurricane Melissa shelterees

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — After weeks of public pressure over unsafe learning conditions caused by hurricane evacuees staying in school facilities, Jamaica’s top teachers’ body has praised the government’s commitment to relocate all remaining displaced people from Hurricane Melissa out of school shelters by May 8. The planned move comes after Jamaica Teachers’ Association (JTA) President Dr. Mark Malabver raised alarming concerns that students were being exposed to inappropriate sexual activity by shelter residents staying on school campuses.

    In an official media statement released Monday, the JTA emphasized that the government’s announcement signals that key issues of student safety, child protection, and widespread disruption to academic activities have been taken seriously by national authorities. While the teachers’ group welcomed the timeline as a step in the right direction, it also pointed out that the proposed deadline is longer than ideal, given the ongoing negative effects the shelter arrangements have on school communities, teaching staff, and students across the island.

    “The association therefore encourages all relevant authorities to expedite the process where possible,” the JTA statement read. The organization also extended recognition to two major education stakeholder groups — the National Parent-Teacher Association of Jamaica (NPTAJ) and the National Secondary Students’ Council (NSSC) — for their role in amplifying the concerns and bringing the issue to the forefront of national public discourse. The JTA added that it will maintain close oversight of the relocation process and expects authorities to strictly adhere to the published May 8 deadline.

    Beyond pushing for faster action, the JTA also offered public appreciation to teachers and school administrators in the parishes hit hardest by Hurricane Melissa, commending them for their resilience, professional conduct, and steady commitment to their students amid extraordinarily difficult circumstances.

    “We look forward to the day when schools in these communities are fully restored — where students and teachers are able to interact in safe, supportive learning spaces, and where education recovery can truly take root within these institutions,” the statement said. “The announcement marks important progress; the priority now is timely delivery.”

    The issue first sparked national outcry after the JTA labeled the situation of shelterees staying in schools “deeply troubling”, pushing the national government to set a formal target for resolving the disruptive situation.

  • Over 6,000 regain power in March as gov’t intervention helps JPS exceed targets

    Over 6,000 regain power in March as gov’t intervention helps JPS exceed targets

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — In the wake of Hurricane Melissa’s destructive sweep across the island, Jamaica has marked a major milestone in its post-storm recovery: the national utility Jamaica Public Service (JPS) has outperformed its agreed power restoration target for March, bringing the country significantly closer to full grid recovery after the devastating weather event.

    Data released by the Ministry of Energy, Transport and Telecommunications confirms that more than 6,000 customers were reconnected to the JPS grid throughout March, beating the initial goal of 5,000 set by the government and utility. As of April 1, 2026, only 3,022 customers across the island remain without power.

    This rapid progress builds on gains made in February, when the government had already restored service to 98 percent of the total JPS network, cutting the number of outages from tens of thousands to fewer than 10,000. By the end of that month, 9,135 of the utility’s roughly 690,000 total customers were still waiting for power to be restored.

    Ramping up operations through March, crews successfully reconnected 6,113 customers by the start of April – representing 67 percent of all customers who remained without power at the beginning of March. That reduction has left just over 3,000 customers still waiting for service.

    The vast majority of remaining outages are now concentrated in the hardest-hit, geographically challenging communities across the island. Roughly 84 percent of all customers still without power are located in the parish of Westmoreland, where extensive damage to critical infrastructure and complicated logistics have slowed recovery work. According to the ministry, current restoration efforts center on highly complex operations: traversing steep, hard-to-access terrain, repairing large-scale damaged infrastructure, and resolving individual barriers to customer connection, such as damaged in-home wiring that prevents safe reconnection.

    Portfolio Minister Daryl Vaz emphasized that the steady, accelerated progress is the direct result of intentional government policy and strict accountability measures put in place after the storm. Back in December 2025, the Jamaican government approved a $150 million US loan to speed up restoration work. This move came in response to initial projections from JPS that full grid restoration could stretch all the way into late 2026, or even the first quarter of 2027 – a timeline the administration rejected as unacceptable for Jamaican households.

    “That was not acceptable to us,” Vaz stated in an official release Monday. “When we approved the loan in December, it was on the basis that we would achieve full restoration by the end of February. While we reached 98 per cent restoration by that deadline, the Government made it clear that aggressive restoration efforts would continue into March and April to close the remaining gap.”

    After meeting the 98 percent benchmark in February, the government and JPS agreed to a specific target of reconnecting 5,000 customers in March – a goal the utility not only met but surpassed by more than 1,000 connections. “That is a strong performance, and JPS deserves commendation. Every target agreed with the Government has been met. That is an extraordinary achievement in a recovery effort of this scale,” Vaz added.

    Vaz went on to highlight that without the government’s early intervention and dedicated financing, restoration timelines would have been far longer, leaving thousands of Jamaicans without power for additional months. “The alternative would have resulted in many communities waiting months longer for electricity,” he said, noting that the administration took decisive action to avoid that outcome and speed up relief for all affected residents.

    The current phase of work, widely referred to as the “last mile” of restoration, relies on close coordination between local JPS crews, domestic contractors, international line crews brought in to supplement local capacity, and multiple state agencies focused on clearing access routes and removing storm debris.

    The Jamaican government has reaffirmed its unwavering commitment to reaching near-total restoration as quickly as possible, noting that ongoing work is prioritizing the most technically complex connections. The administration’s goal is to reconnect every customer who can safely receive power as rapidly as possible, even as full infrastructure rebuilding continues across all affected parishes. With steady progress month over month, Jamaica continues to advance toward full recovery from Hurricane Melissa’s impact.

  • Trial for ‘Beachy Stout’ in murder of first wife adjourned to January

    Trial for ‘Beachy Stout’ in murder of first wife adjourned to January

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — What was meant to be the start of a high-profile murder trial this week in Jamaica’s capital has been pushed back years, after prosecutors requested a delay to complete critical procedural steps in the case against prominent Portland businessman Everton “Beachy Stout” McDonald. McDonald stands accused of orchestrating the 2009 shooting death of his first wife, Marlene McDonald.

    The proceeding was scheduled to open Monday before Justice Leighton Pusey at downtown Kingston’s Home Circuit Court. However, prosecuting representatives immediately filed a motion for adjournment, asking for additional time to formally serve legal documents tied to a Section 31D(a) court application. The Crown also confirmed it is considering revising the list of witnesses named on the original indictment.

    The proposed changes to the witness roster have drawn fierce pushback from McDonald’s defense team, which is led by attorneys Monique Scott, Anna Kaye Scott-James, and John Jacobs. The court will issue a formal ruling on the adjournment request and the witness modification dispute when the matter next comes up for review on May 15, 2025. Following the ruling, the full trial will not get underway until January 27, 2027, marking the second delay to the proceeding after it was originally scheduled for April 2026.

    The 2009 killing of Marlene McDonald, who was gunned down outside her Boundbrook, Portland residence, sat as an unsolved cold case for more than a decade. It was only reopened and McDonald was charged after his connection to the violent 2020 murder of his second wife, Tonia, was uncovered.

    In September 2024, McDonald and his co-defendant Oscar Barnes were convicted and sentenced to life in prison for Tonia’s brutal killing. On July 20, 2020, Tonia was found murdered on a main road in Portland’s Sherwood Forest community: she had been stabbed multiple times, her throat cut, and her body was left burned inside her Toyota Axio, which the attackers also set on fire.

  • JCF says ‘restriction’ on firearms at entertainment venues to be introduced soon

    JCF says ‘restriction’ on firearms at entertainment venues to be introduced soon

    KINGSTON, Jamaica — In direct response to a recent violent shooting at a major carnival-linked entertainment event that left three people wounded, the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) has unveiled plans to roll out a strict new restriction banning firearms from all public entertainment spaces across the island.

    The policy shift comes on the heels of a Sunday night altercation that turned deadly in terms of gun violence at the Big Wall Revolution event, hosted at Kingston’s Ranny Williams Entertainment Centre in St Andrew. What began as a minor physical confrontation between two attendees at approximately 9:30 pm escalated rapidly into an exchange of gunfire, leaving three people with gunshot wounds, authorities confirmed.

    Among the injured was Jhaedee Richards, a widely popular Jamaican podcaster who goes by the professional name “Jaii Frais”, alongside a United States citizen and a member of a local entertainer’s personal entourage. When the shooting stopped, it was confirmed that two of the three wounded individuals had been the original parties to the initiating dispute. All three were immediately rushed to nearby medical facilities for urgent care.

    Law enforcement officials confirmed that Richards was treated for his injuries and subsequently taken into police custody following the incident, while the two other victims remain hospitalized in unspecified condition as of the latest updates. Two illegal firearms were recovered by investigators at the scene, and prominent local music producer and manager Jahvel “Jahvy Ambassador” Morrison has also been taken into custody as part of the ongoing probe. As of the latest police briefing, no formal charges have been filed against any individuals in connection with the shooting, and detectives continue to piece together details of the confrontation and attack.

    Moving forward, the JCF announced that it will kick off a series of mandatory consultations with event promoters and party organizers across the country to embed new security and public safety requirements into the event permit approval process. The new firearms restriction, which will be formally implemented in the coming weeks, is framed as a core pillar of the JCF’s long-standing campaign to curb rising gun violence in public gathering spaces and protect attendees at concerts, festivals and other entertainment events.

    Community leaders and public safety advocates have highlighted the shooting as a stark example of the pervasive threat that unregulated gun ownership poses to public life in Jamaica, and have welcomed the new policy as a necessary step to prevent similar violent incidents in the future.