Category: CANA News

Defending champions Trinidad and Tobago Women began the defence of their CG United Women’s Super 50 cup title on a losing note, after going down by 91 runs to the Windward Islands Women in their opneing round fixture at Sion Hill on Tuesday.

AT SION HILL,

Sent in to bat, the Windward Islands Women posted a formidable total of 225 for seven in their allotted 50 overs, West Indies all-rounder Jannillea Glasgow leading the way with 73 from 88 balls, which included nine fours.

She was eventually run out in the final over, as she got good support from veteran West Indies player Afy Fletcher, who weighed in with 61 from 63 balls, with five fours and two sixes.

Another West Indies player, Zaida James chipped in with 38 against two wickets for Nadia Mohammed.

In reply, T and T got off to the worse possibel start, losing two wickets inside three overs wth just four runs on the board. Britney Cooper conjured up a brief recovery with a fighting 28 to get them to 54, but wickets continue to tumble at regular intervals.

Lee Ann Kirby, with 31, and captain Karishma Ramharack, 29, tried to resurrect the innings, but when the pair fell, the writing was on the wall.

Afy Fletcher picked up her fourth wicket by removing the last batter, Shalini Samaro, for four, as T and T was all out for 134. Glasgow finsihed with two wickets for 14 runs.

AT CUMBERLAND,

Guyana Women got the better of Jamaica Women by five wickets at the Cumberland playing field. The Jamaicans made a meal of batting first after winning the toss, as they were skittled out for 76 in 27.3 overs.

Once again, spin did the trick, as the Guyanese trio of Ahsmini Munisar, Kaysia Shultz, and Tramaine Marks picked up eight wickets between them in a lacklustre effort with the bat for the Jamaicans.

Opner Chrishana McKenzie 25, Chedean Nation 12, and Kate Wilmot 10 were the only batters who got into double figures, as Munisar ended with four for 23, Shultz two for 16 and Marks two for seven.

Shabika Gajnabi then hit an unbeaten 23 to go along with 17 from Sheneta Grimmond to steer Guyana to 77 for 5 in 27 overs.

AT PARK HILL,

Barbados Women carved out a 79-run win over the Leeward Islands Women at Park Hill in Colonarie. Batting first, Barbados got their way to 144 in 47.5 overs. Naijanni Cumberbatch put on a show with a classy 74 not out from 139 balls with five fours.

She got good support from Asabi Callender with 21 and captain Aaliyah Alleyne with 20. Medium pacer Shanisha Hector continued her good form by bagging four wickets for 19 runs, with Davronique Maynard chipping in with 3 for 22.

Seamers Shamillia Connell and Alleyne then combined to skittle out the Leewards for 65 in 25.5 overs. Connell ended with 4-17 and Alleyne 3 for 3.

Tonya Martin with 15 and Chey-Ann Moses 11 not out were the only batters to reach double figures.

The Guyana government Monday night outlined a raft of socio-economic policies that it said are geared towards prioritising investments that directly promote economic growth, accelerate the transformation of the country, enhance human capital, and improve social wellbeing.

Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh delivering the first budget of the ruling People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) since it won last September’s regional and general election, told Parliament that the Central Government total expenditure is projected to grow by 15.8 per cent this year, to reach GUY$1.5 trillion (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents), with the Public Sector Investment Programme (PSIP) expanding to GUy$779.6 billion, and non-interest current expenditure to GUY$705.1 billion.

He told legislators that the PSIP continues to be the engine delivering the Irfaan Ali government’s national transformation agenda, pushing deeper into the foundations of daily life by building modern roads and bridges, new and upgraded energy infrastructure, world class schools and hospitals, affordable housing and safer communities.

He said this year’s national budget Budget is crafted so as to give effect to President Ali’s vision for a modern, prosperous Guyana, that provides opportunities for every single Guyanese person.

The California-based Haitian Bridge Alliance (HBA) has condemned what it described as ‘lethal violence’ by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents against civilians exercising their First Amendment right to peaceful protest.

HBA Executive Director Guerline Jozef told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) that her organization is ‘devastated and outraged’ by the killing of Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a 37-year-old US citizen and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse, who was shot and killed by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota on Saturday during an ICE operation. Pretti’s death followed the fatal shooting of another 37-year-old American citizen, Renée Good, a poet and mother of three young children, by an ICE agent in the same city on January 7, during another ICE enforcement activity.

In both cases, community and political leaders have challenged the Trump administration’s accounts of the incidents and called for independent investigations.

‘Our hearts break for the innocent lives brutally taken. These tragedies show how federal immigration enforcement has become a mechanism of violence rather than protection,’ Jozef said.

‘The deaths of Alex Pretti and Renée Good are not isolated accidents – they are the product of unchecked federal power that prioritizes inhumane and deadly force over human dignity.

‘We demand full accountability, community-led investigations, and an end to militarized immigration operations that terrorize civilians exercising their rights,’ added Jozef, stating that HBA stands ‘in solidarity with the families of Pretti, Good, and all who have suffered under aggressive enforcement actions.

‘We call on policymakers and community leaders to act with urgency and moral clarity. We demand independent state-level investigations into the killings of Alex Pretti and Renée Good, free from federal interference; immediate suspension of aggressive federal immigration enforcement operations in US cities where lethal force has been used against civilians; (and) Legislative reform to abolish ICE and reinvest in community-centered immigration and human rights protections.’

Jozef said HBA is also demanding the federal government’s ‘accountability and prosecution of officers involved in unlawful use of deadly force’; and ‘comprehensive civil rights protections for journalists, legal observers, and community members documenting enforcement actions.

‘These deaths expose a systemic failure that demands not just accountability but transformation. Haitian Bridge Alliance will continue to uplift the voices of affected communities and fight for a humane immigration system that respects human life and constitutional rights.’

Caribbean-American New York State Assemblymember Brian Cunningham also denounced the latest fatal shooting by ICE agents in Minneapolis.

‘This week, the country watched news out of Minneapolis that should stop every person in their tracks,’ Cunningham, the son of Jamaican immigrants told CMC.

‘This tragic death follows yet another fatal shooting tied to immigration enforcement, in the same city, involving Renee Good, amid rising tension around increasingly aggressive federal operations.Two ICE agents, two fatal shootings, in less than two weeks, it’s unacceptable.

‘No matter where you stand politically, federal force cannot become the default language of immigration policy. When civilians are dying and communities feel occupied rather than protected, democracy is being tested in real time,’ the Assemblyman said, adding that the Caribbean community and New Yorkers are ‘not treating this as distant.

Aiden Markram’s commanding, unbeaten 86 guided South Africa to a comprehensive nine-wicket victory over the West Indies, securing a 1-0 lead in their three-match T20I series here on Tuesday.

The win marks South Africa’s first in eight non-World Cup T20I matches, breaking a concerning streak with a dominant chase.

Opting to bowl first, the Proteas successfully restrained the West Indies to 173 for 7, a total that always looked within reach on a good Paarl surface.

The visitors began explosively, with Brandon King driving his way to 27 off 16 balls to help the visitors to a good start at 39 without loss inside four overs.

However, the introduction of spin proved decisive. Keshav Maharaj broke through, bowling Johnson Charles for 13 before King played a Corbin Bosch delivery onto his stumps.

Maharaj then removed the in-form Sherfane Rutherford, who chopped on after scoring six runs, as the innings stumbled to 50 for 3 in the powerplay.

The decision to promote Matthew Forde up to number three didn’t really come to fruition, as the Bajan managed two sixes in his 16 runs before he was caught off Bosch.

Stand-in captain Roston Chase, playing his 50th T20I, fell in the 12th over, as he was bowled by George Linde to leave the hosts at a precarious 95 for 5. The recovery was led by Shimron Hetmyer and, to a lesser extent, Rovman Powell, who counter-attacked brilliantly.

Hetmyer launched Maharaj for two massive sixes in a 16-run over, propelling the West Indies past 100. His 48-run knock, the innings’ top score, was eventually ended by a superb relay catch on the boundary by Dewald Brevis to hand Linde his second wicket.

Powell would help himself to two fours and a six in his unbeaten knock of 29, but just 19 runs in the last three overs meant the West Indies managed 173.

Player of the match Linde, who picked up the last wicket of Jason Holder for one, finsihed with three for 25 from four overs.

The gettable target demanded a solid start, and South African captain Aiden Markram provided a masterpiece to get the ball rolling.

After a period of inconsistent T20I form, he announced his return with a flurry of breathtaking strokes. He plundered 12 runs off Matthew Forde’s first over, including three pristine cover drives, and raced to 31 off just 15 balls in the powerplay.

He was ably supported by Lhuan-dre Pretorius, who contributed a lively 34 in an 83-run opening stand. After Pretorius fell to Roston Chase for 44, Ryan Rickelton, 40 not out, settled seamlessly into his new role at number three, playing with freedom as the pressure evaporated.

Markram, however, was the undisputed architect. He mixed power with exquisite timing, reaching his half-century off 28 balls and never relenting.

His unbeaten 86 from 47 deliveries included 12 boundaries, a statement innings that steered South Africa to 176 for 1 with 18 balls to spare.

The Senate Tuesday night handed the Kamla Persad-Bissessar government an embarrassing defeat after legislators voted against the Zones of Special Operations (ZOSOs).

The ZOSO legislation was passed in the House of Assembly nearly two weeks ago and unlike the Lower House, where the government enjoys the necessary two-thirds majority to have ensured its passage, the government needed support at least from four independent legislators for the measure to become law. But when the vote was taken on Tuesday night, eight of the independent legislators sided with those from the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) ensuring the defeat of the measure.

One of the independent senators abstained while 15 government members voted in favour.

As a result the government failed to get the necessary two-thirds majority with the final count being 15 in favour, 14 against and one absention.

Prior to the debate in the Senate, Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar had been critical of the independent legislators, referring to them as ”bootlickers and brown-nosers’

‘These shameless President’s senators had no courage to contest any election to sit in that Parliament, they are not there because of the will of the people. The entire country knows that these people were appointed because they are bootlickers and brown-nosers,’ she told the Trinidad Express newspaper, when asked if she regretted her earlier comments of the nine legislators appointed by President Christine Kangaloo, who she described as a ‘low-level PNM functionary.

‘It is obscene that these nine people, whose only special ability is bootlicking and self-promotion on the local cocktail and conference circuit, and who no one voted for, can decide on legislation brought to Parliament by a Government who was voted for by the electorate.

‘And the most egregious ones have absolutely no shame standing in front of Parliament to defend their eating ah food. Yet they won’t stand in front of the electorate and ask for a vote to be in Parliament,’ Persad-Bissessar told the newspaper.

Persad-Bissessar said her Government has comprehensive plans to address crime should the ZOSO bill fail to secure the required three-fifths majority for passage in the Senate.

The Law Association of Trinidad and Tobago had also raised concerns about the legislation that the government said had been modeled on the Jamaica bill.

The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Tuesday said that a woman has been granted TT$10,000 (One TT dollar=US$0.16 cents) bail after she allegedly issued two cheques to purchase tickets for carnival fetes.

The police said that the cheques totalling TT$45,500 were not honoured by the bank and that as a result the woman appeared before the San Fernando High Court on charges of obtaining goods by false pretences.

The TTPS said that the women, Satie Samaroo was charged with obtaining goods valued at TT$34,500 by false pretences and obtaining goods valued at TT$11,000 by false pretences, when she appeared before the court on Monday.

She was granted bail and the matter postponed to June 24, this year for a status hearing.

The police said that the operations manager at a San Fernando company on the southwestern coast of the country, reported that in July 2025, that during the period January 23 and January 24 that year, a woman purchased two packages valued at TT$34,500 and 15 party tickets valued at TT$11,000 for a Carnival event.

‘Payment was allegedly effected by two cheques, which were accepted as good and valid and the packages and tickets handed over to the woman. The cheques were deposited into the company’s bank account but both were returned dishonoured with the notation – ‘Account closed since 2021’. ‘

The police said that several attempts by the company to have the woman honour the payment proved futile and a report was subsequently made to the police. They said that following investigations, an exercise was conducted on January 22 this year leading to the arrest of Samaroo.

‘The Fraud Squad is reminding business owners and vendors to verify the authenticity of cheques with their bankers before parting with their goods, or consider switching to electronic forms of payment, if the person writing the cheque is not known to you or not a regular customer,’ the TTPS said in a statement.

The mother and sister of two Trinidadian nationals killed last year in a United States military strike on a boat allegedly carrying drugs Tuesday filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the US government.

The case is being brought under the Death on the High Seas Act, which allows for redress for wrongful deaths at sea, and the Alien Tort Statute, which allows foreigners to file suit in US courts for rights violations. In what has been described as the first such case to be brought against the Donald Trump administration, the suit, filed in a federal court in Massachusetts, is being brought by the families of Chad Joseph, 26, and Rishi Samaroo, 41, who were among six people killed in an October 14 strike in the Caribbean.

The US campaign of missile strikes in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific have left at least 125 people dead since September and has been received the support of the Trinidad and Tobago government, whose Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is on record as saying that those involved in the illegal drugs trade should be ‘killed violently’.

President Trump alleged at the time that ‘six male narcoterrorists’ were killed in a boat allegedly ferrying drugs from Venezuela to the United States. But Washington is yet to release any evidence supporting the claims that the targeted boats have links to drug cartels designated by Trump as terrorist organisations.

The Trump administration has told members of Congress that the US is in a non-international armed conflict with drug cartels, citing that as justification for using lethal military force against alleged drug boats.

The lawsuit challenges that justification. It says that there is no armed conflict and that therefore the laws of war do not apply.

According to the lawsuit, the ‘United States’ unlawful killings of persons at sea, including Mr Joseph and Mr Samaroo, constitute wrongful deaths and extrajudicial killings.

‘These premeditated and intentional killings lack any plausible legal justification. Thus, they were simply murders, ordered by individuals at the highest levels of government and obeyed by military officers in the chain of command.’

The plaintiffs in the case are Lenore Burnley, Joseph’s mother, and Sallycar Korasingh, Samaroo’s sister, and they are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR).

The family members are seeking punitive damages, the amount of which would be determined at trial.

‘These are lawless killings in cold blood; killings for sport and killings for theatre,’ CCR legal director Baher Azmy said, adding that the suit is ‘a critical step in ensuring accountability, while the individuals responsible may ultimately be answerable criminally for murder and war crimes’.

In a statement, Korasingh said her brother, who had spent 15 years in prison for participation in a homicide, ‘was a hardworking man who paid his debt to society and was just trying to get back on his feet again.

‘If the US government believed Rishi had done anything wrong, it should have arrested, charged, and detained him, not murdered him,’ she said.

According to the lawsuit, neither man was affiliated with drug cartels, and they were simply hitching a ride back to Trinidad from Venezuela, where they had been engaged in fishing and farm work.

Earlier this month, Trinidad and Tobago Attorney General, John Jeremie, said the US strikes were consistent with international law, based on advice he received from an international legal expert outside his office.

Jeremie said he sought external legal advice from an international expert outside the Office of the Attorney General before arriving at his conclusion.

‘My first look at it, and the advice I took, is the strikes were consistent with international law. That was the advice given to me by an international expert,’ said Jeremie, who refused to identify the international legal expert.

Police Commissioner Dr. Richard Rosado has confirmed that an investigation has been launched into the disappearance of a quantity of cocaine from a police station and that one police officer is assisting the investigations.

‘I can confirm that the Belize Police Department is investigating the reported disappearance of just over one gram of controlled drugs from the Orange Walk Police Station. One officer is currently being questioned,’ Rosado told Greater Belize Media (GBM) television.

The authorities said that the cocaine was confiscated from an individual during a police operation and that the arresting officer reportedly failed to submit the drugs to the station’s exhibit keepers, as required under police procedures.

Media reports said that the officer stored the cocaine in his personal locker at the station and that the discovery was made last Friday, when another officer who was on duty allegedly accessed that locker and stole the cocaine.

The Police Commissioner said that any officer found to have breached regulations or compromised evidence would face disciplinary action, including criminal prosecution where applicable.

The amunt of cocaine stolen has not been disclosed.

South Africa elected to field after winning the toss against West Indies in the first T20I here at Boland Park on Tuesday.

Roston Chase, in his 50th T20I, will lead the West Indies as regular captain Shai Hope has been rested.

TEAMS:

WEST INDIES:1 Brandon King, 2 Roston Chase (capt), 3 Johnson Charles (wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Sherfane Rutherford, 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Jason Holder, 9 Matthew Forde, 10 Jayden Seales, 11 Akeal Hosein

SOUTH AFRICA:1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Lhuan-dre Pretorius, 3 Ryan Rickelton (wk), 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 Rubin Hermann, 6 Jason Smith, 7 George Linde, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Kagiso Rabada, 10 Keshav Maharaj, 11 Kwena Maphaka

Umpires: Bongani Jele, Stephen Harris

TV Umpire: Arno Jacobs

Reserve Umpire: Lauren Agenbag

Match Referee: Shaid Wadvalla

Opposition Leader Dr. Ralph Gonsalves says he disagrees ‘profoundly’ with the decision of the Speaker, Ronnia Durham-Balcombe, regarding the ‘inadmissibility’ of three questions to government ministers at Thursday’s sitting of the Parliament.

Gonsalves said the questions were directed at Prime Minister Dr. Godwin Friday, his National Security Minister St. Clair Leacock and the Minister of Health and Wellness, Daniel Cummings.

In a January 25 letter sent to the Speaker, Gonsalves said the three questions were posed for oral answering and is requesting that she reconsiders her original decision which ‘ I disagree profoundly with.”In the alternative, I suggest that you permit the questions to be listed on the Order Paper and, in the interest of parliamentary democracy and an alive constitutionalism, you invite the honourable gentlemen to whom the questions are posed to answer or decline to answer; there is ample sound precedent in this regard going back in excess of 30 years in our House of Assembly,’ Gonsalves wrote.

Gonsalves said among the questions are those relating to the employment status of the son of Prime Minister Friday give that the ‘Prime Minister has publicly acknowledged that one of his sons has been, or is, his assistant or aide who receives no salary from the Government’.

Gonsalves, the only successful candidate of the Unity Labour Party (ULP) that lost the November 27 general elections last year after 25 years in office, wants to know ‘what are the specific role and duties’ of the prime minister’s son ‘in the public administration or governance of our country’.

Gonsalves, one of the longest serving head of government in the Caribbean, said the opposition also w ants to know ‘by what authority’ was the prime minister’s son ‘appointed and engaged’ and that has ‘his son been attending private or formal meetings touching and concerning the conduct of public affairs’.

Gonsalves also wants to know whether the prime minister’s son has ‘been privy to official documents touching and concerning the public administration or governance of our country, and has he taken the requisite Oath of Secrecy’ and whether ‘any stipend, allowance or in-kind benefit’ had been paid.

Gonsalves told the Speaker that while in any event, the Standing Orders of the House of Assembly affords her ‘the discretion that each question be ‘entered in the Order Book with such alterations as the Speaker may direct’; I thus suggest that you reflect on this option.

‘ If your directed alterations do not meet with my approval, I may choose, as the elected member for North Central Windward, to demur in posing the question(s) as altered,’ Gonsavles said, acknowledging that ‘the chief characteristics of the Speaker, as Presiding Officer of the House, are authority and impartiality’

He said the authority in the Chair is fortified by formal rules and conventions and that ‘confidence in the impartiality of the Speaker is an indispensable condition of the successful working of procedure, and many conventions exist which have as their object not only to ensure the impartiality of the Speaker but also to ensure that her impartiality is generally recognised’.

He said that one of the principal means of holding a government to account in a parliamentary democracy is ‘question time’ exercised by the parliamentary opposition and that during the tenure of his administration ‘ was fully recognised’.

Gonsalves said in a House of Assembly with a lopsided majority for the government ‘a Speaker who comes from an activist NDP (ruling New Democratic Party) stable ought to be alert to the real possibility that an overly-restrictive interpretation of ‘the general rules’ would inevitably engender a not unreasonable impression, in the public sphere, whether correct or not, that the Speaker’s ‘impartiality’ is at least suspect’.

Gonsalves wrote that whether or not the Speaker accedes to his requests, suggestions, and representations, ‘these matters will be ventilated fully in and out of the House of Assembly in one form or another

‘Finally, I ask you to consider this: What would the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth, the United Nations, and most of all the people of St. Vincent and the Grenadines think about any attempt to muzzle the lone opposition Representative in the Parliament of our country through your adverse rulings which I have respectfully addressed?’