Category: CANA News

The West Indies have suffered a major setback with opener Tagenarine Chanderpaul ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand because of injury

Tagenarine Chanderpaul

Chanderpaul, who scored a crucial half century in the first innings of the opening Test, suffered a side strain while practicing in the nets on Tuesday.

The left-handed batsman is currently being examined by the medical team to determine the full extent of the injury as well as his availability for the remainder of the series.

Police Commissioner Allister Guevarro says abduction of a 70-year-old man and his 47-year-old wife at their Monos Island home over the last weekend is at a ‘sensitive stage’ and it would not be prudent to reveal operational details publicly.

The kidnappers are demanding a random of US$2.5 million for the release of Derek and Claribel Tardieu, who appeared on social media pleading for their lives.

Screen shot shows husband and wife being held by abductors armed with guns and a grenade and demanding US$2.5 million ransom

‘What I can assure is that several of our specialised units are actively engaged in this investigation. I urge members of the public who have any information to please co-operate with the TTPS (Trinidad and Tobago Police Service) so as to ensure that Mr Tardieu is returned safely to his family,’ Guevarro said.

‘Kidnapping for ransom will be met with decisive action, and the TTPS remains fully committed to protecting citizens and bringing perpetrators to justice,’ he added.

Media reports said that a family friend had received a voice note from a cellphone with a Colombian registration number informing them of the kidnapping.

In the message, Tardieu, confirms being snatched with the abductors demanding ‘2.5 million US for meh release’.

A video of the couple was circulated on social media and showed what appeared to be a gun pointed at Tardieu’s head and hand with a grenade under his head. The suspects holding the weapons to Tardieu’s head were not seen in the video, however.

Tardieu is heard appealing to a relative in English and Spanish, asking for money for the release of himself and his wife.

Monos Island located about half a mile off the northwestern end of Trinidad, in the area known as Bocas del Dragon (Dragon’s mouth) which is 19km wide and is subdivided into four islands: Monos Island, Huevos, Chacachacare and Gaspar Grande.

West Indies reached 175 for four at tea against New Zealand on the opening day of the second Test here at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday.

WEST INDIES 175-4 in 54 overs (Shai Hope 48, John Campbell 44, Brandon King 33, Roston Chase 29 not out, Justin Greaves 10 not out; Blair Tickner 3-27).

West Indies Test captain, Roston Chase is of the view that his side is heading into the second Test against New Zealand ‘on top’ after their heroics in last week’s drawn opening Test at Christchurch.

Given 531 to win, the West Indies batted almost two days in one of the best displays in Test history, to reach 457 for six, the highest total in the fourth innings of a Test match in 84 years.

With the second Test scheduled to begin here on Wednesday, Chase said that performance had given the regional team a major boost. ‘The guys have settled well, and I think the Test match that we played is going to give us a lot of confidence going forward in this series knowing that we can compete and come close to almost having a chance of winning in the first Test match, so the guys’ spirits are high right now,’ he said during a pre-match press conference on Tuesday.

‘Everyone seems raring to go, full of confidence and energy to prove that we can actually go a step further and win

‘I don’t want to say that we’re favourites now, but coming out of that last game I think we would have ticked more boxes than them and came out the game with more positives than them, so I would say that we’re on top right now.’

Despite their spectacular play in the fourth innings, Chase maintained that the West Indies needed to put bigger scores on the board in the first innings.

He said if they were able to do that, it would put them in a better position to win.

‘The main topic we spoke about is our first innings, because we find that in these New Zealand conditions the first innings is usually the tougher part, where usually in Test cricket the second innings is the tougher part to bat.

‘But with the green on the wicket and the way the ball is nipping around, we think that once we can get a decent total in the first innings it would put us closer to the point of winning a match,’ Chase said.

‘We just think that we need to shut down that lead from early and once we put the New Zealand batsmen under pressure in the second innings, we’ll be fine.’

The Organization of American States (OAS) Electoral Mission (OEM) says on the night of the elections in St. Lucia on December1, the transmission process did not work precisely as anticipated with results ‘bypassing the verification stage in some instances’.

The OEM was among regional and international groups that monitored the elections that resulted in the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) of Prime Minister Phillip J Pierre winning 14 of the 17 seats with two seats going to ‘independents’ who had previously been part of the Pierre first administration.

The others eat was won by the leader of the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP), Allen Chastanet.

A member of the OAS Electoral Mission watches as preparations begin for the casting of ballots in St. Lucia’s general election on December 1, 2025

In its report, the OEM said that St. Lucia has transitioned to an electronic election results transmission process whereby, following the conclusion of the manual count, preliminary election results are transmitted and recorded in the Election Tabulation and Publication System (ETPS).

It said that the current electronic results system is configured in such a way that after a Presiding Officer uploads a polling station’s results, the Returning Officer (RO) verifies and approves the data after receiving the physical Statement of Poll (SOP).

‘The Mission noted that the system’s design prevents the RO from approving a verified SOP until all SOPs for that entire constituency have been received and are ready for approval. This can create a significant processing delay, which negates the speed advantage of digital reporting and potentially delays the timely release of results to the general public.’

It said that on election night, the transmission process ‘did not work precisely as anticipated, with results being uploaded to both the ROs and to a public results website, thus bypassing the verification stage in some instances’.

But the OEM noted that ‘this did not appear to be an issue of undue concern for the electoral authorities.

Asa result, the OEM is recommending revising the application design to allow the RO to approve and publish each SOP independently as soon as its physical copy has been verified, adding ‘this will eliminate potential bottlenecks and ensure the results are published in a timely fashion’.

It is also calling for an enhancements of the system, so that it works both online and offline, automatically syncing data to the central database when a connection is available.

‘This hybrid approach ensures the process,’ the OEM said, adding that there should also be efforts to improving the software freezing procedures to ensure that the software as well as the database are not tampered with or modified, thus preserve their integrity and availability.

The OEM is also recommending that there should be enhanced training for all poll workers prior to each election in order to ensure greater familiarity with the results transmission web application and the required steps in the confirmation and verification process.

It also wants an enhanced transparency through Digital SOP publication, noting that ‘the current ETPS does not include the scanning, digital capture, and upload of the SOPs for public viewing.

‘The digital publication of SOPs can greatly improve public trust by allowing citizens to view and download official SOPs from a secure, central location as soon as they are verified. The Mission therefore recommends integrating the following capabilities into the ETPS to facilitate the secure and timely publication of SOP images’

The OEM said that equipping each RO’s receiving location with high-speed scanners to immediately capture digital images of the physical SOPs upon their arrival.

‘Developing a dedicated software module for the indexing, classification, and secure uploading of SOP images to a central database. This ensures efficient data management,’ the OEM said, recommending that ‘before uploading the SOPs, utilizing a secure algorithm to generate a digital signature (hash) for each SOP image. This digital signature must be included with the SOP record to prove its integrity and detect any unauthorized tampering.

‘Immediately encrypting all SOP images upon scanning and securing the receiving laptops with full-disk encryption and multi-factor authentication (MFA) to protect sensitive data at the local level.’

It is recommending the creation of a user-friendly online interface that allows voters to easily search for and download SOPs by constituency or polling location.

‘Implementing an online dashboard showing the public the live status of the SOP scanning, verification, and uploading process nationwide. This will help citizens track the progress of results in real time,’ the OEM added.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field against West Indies on the opening day of the second Test here at the Basin Reserve on Wednesday.

West Indies have made three changes with Brandon King, Kavem Hodge and Anderson Phillip replacing Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Alick Athanaze and Johann Layne.

Meanwhile New Zealand has made five changes with debutants Mitchell Hay and Michael Rae along with Glenn Phillips, Blair Tickner and Daryl Mitchell in for Will Young, Tom Blundell, Matt Henry, Nathan Smith and Michael Bracewell.

WEST INDIES: Roston Chase (captain), Brandon King, John Campbell, Kavem Hodge, Shai Hope, Justin Greaves, Tevin Imlach, Kemar Roach, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields

NEW ZEALAND: Tom Latham (captain), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Hay, Michael Ray, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Zak Foulkes, Blair Tickner, Jacob Duffy.

A Guyana Under-13 squad has been named by the Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) to face Barbados in a five-match 40-over series at home beginning on Saturday.

The tour follows a historic agreement between the GCB and Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) earlier this year to facilitate an Under-13 cricket tour to Guyana.

The 14-member squad, which was announced on Monday, will be captained by wicketkeeper Lomar Seecharran, while Sahid Gajnabi will serve as vice-captain.

Lomar Seecharran will captain Guyana Under-13s

Ameer Rahaman, Kumar Bishundial, and Clive Holder have been named as coaches.

The Barbados Under-13 team is expected to arrive in Guyana on December 12, and the series will begin the following day at the historic GCC Bourda with Guyana facing Barbados.

The second match will also be played at GCC Bourda on December 14.

After a rest and tour day, the third match of the series will be held at GCC Bourda on December 16, followed by the fourth match at Everest Cricket Ground on December 17.

After another rest and tour day, the final match of the series will then be played at Everest Cricket Ground on December 19.

SQUAD

GUYANA UNDER-13s: Lomar Seecharran (captain), Sahid Gajnabi (vice-captain), Nathaniel Ramkhelawan, Timothy Ramdat, Afraz Ali, Makai Dowlin, Afraz Khan, Fayyad Baksh, Ashton Collins, Deshawn Ramnauth, Adrian Emmanuel, Jasani Craig, De Marcus Thomas, and Jaden Ganpat.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has joined a number of regional and international stakeholders in calling for countries to guarantee civic spaces that are open and free from intimidation in order to uphold and respect human rights.

The IACHR, a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), said it is collaborating with its Special Rapporteurship for Freedom of Expression (RELE), and the presences of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Latin America (UN Human Rights) in observing International Day of Human Rights Defenders on Tuesday.

The IACHR and UN Human Rights note with concern actions aimed at limiting essential rights such as freedom of association and freedom of expression, as well as free participation in decision-making spaces within democratic societies.

They said these restrictions have a direct impact on the exercise of the right to defend human rights. Individuals and organizations that defend human rights face growing obstacles to carrying out their work of promotion, protection, reporting, and supporting victims.

‘Among the main challenges identified are killings or violent deaths, threats, criminalisation, and attacks intended to forcibly halt defense work and instill fear among those who carry it out.

Another challenge that threatens human rights defense is the adoption of laws and administrative measures that impose new requirements for the registration of non-governmental organizations which, in some cases, appear to be applied arbitrarily.’

The groups said that these include conditions not foreseen in the relevant legal frameworks, under threat of sanctions.

‘There are also measures establishing strict controls over the funding sources of civil society organizations, as well as tax burdens and financial penalties that may be difficult to meet.

‘ In some contexts, restrictions have also been introduced on the use of international cooperation funds for essential activities such as legal representation or strategic litigation, thereby limiting organizations’ ability to support access to justice.’

They said that non-compliance may pose risks to the operational continuity of organizations, including the possibility of losing their legal personality. These conditions generate legal uncertainty and concern regarding the registration status of organizations.

‘These measures have had a direct impact on the operational capacity of organizations, leading to the reduction or suspension of activities, the closure of workspaces, self-censorship, and even exile as a form of self-protection. It has also been reported that organizations have decided not to participate in international forums due to fear of reprisals or criminalisation.’

The groups remind states that, while the obligation to guarantee the right to freedom of association does not preclude regulating the registration, supervision, and oversight of organizations within their jurisdictions, such requirements must not prevent, delay, or restrict the creation or functioning of organizations, which play a vital role in ensuring democratic oversight.

‘As recalled by international mandates in the Joint Declaration on the Protection of the Right to Freedom of Association in relation to ‘Foreign Agents’ and ‘Foreign Influence’ Laws, the right to freedom of association includes the right of associations, whether registered or unregistered, to seek, receive, and use resources, including those from foreign and international sources, without prior authorization or other undue impediments.’

Additionally, the groups warn of statements issued by various state actors aimed at delegitimizing human rights defense work, using terms such as ‘terrorists’, ‘enemies of the State’, or ‘defenders of criminals’.

They also note persistent high levels of violence, including killings, threats, short- and long-term disappearances, criminalization, and restrictions on freedom of movement. States must adopt the necessary measures to prevent such violence, protect those at risk as a result of their defense work, and investigate and sanction all those responsible.

‘On this day, the IACHR and UN Human Rights reaffirm the essential role played by human rights defenders in strengthening democracies and the rule of law and underscore the importance of States ensuring a civic space that is open, pluralistic, safe, and participatory so that defenders can carry out their activities.

‘The recognition and protection of human rights defenders ultimately depend on the political will and institutional capacity of States to ensure that they can conduct their work in environments free from any form of threat, intimidation, or harassment,’ the groups added.

President of the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Daniel Best, Tuesday said that corruption represents one of the most significant barriers to sustainable development

In a statement marking International Anti-Corruption Day, Best said that the region’s premier financial institution is using the occasion to renew its commitment to the principles that underpin effective development: transparency, integrity, and accountability

He quoted the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, as saying that one trillion US dollars are paid in bribes annually, while another US2.6 trillion are stolen through corruption.

‘These staggering losses drain resources that could transform lives and build prosperous societies,’ Best said, adding that for Caribbean countries operating with constrained fiscal space, substantial debt obligation.

‘Any resources lost due to corrupt practices translate directly into lost essential infrastructure, curtailed education and health services, and missed opportunities for economic advancement.’

Best said consequently, CDB views anti-corruption not as an ancillary concern but as central to fulfilling our development mandate.

‘As a development finance institution serving some of the world’s most vulnerable small island states, maintaining the highest standards of integrity is essential to securing continued access to the resources our Borrowing Member Countries (BMCs) require.

‘Strong governance frameworks and robust anti-corruption mechanisms directly enable the Bank to achieve its core objectives: advancing economic growth, reducing poverty, and building sustainable, resilient societies across the region.’

Best said for the last decade, CDB’s Office of Integrity, Compliance, and Accountability has served as the institutional anchor for our governance framework, encompassing institutional integrity, ethics, accountability, and compliance.

He said through this office, the CDB has demonstrated regional leadership through sustained capacity-building initiatives for its BMCs, including training and knowledge-sharing on anti-corruption practices, compliance frameworks, and good governance standards.

This year’s International Anti-Corruption Day theme, ‘Uniting with Youth Against Corruption: Shaping Tomorrow’s Integrity’, and Best said it aligns directly with CDB’s institutional priorities and our vision for the region’s future.

‘As an institution with youth development embedded in its operational strategy, CDB recognizes that empowering the next generation requires equipping young people with the values, knowledge, and tools to champion integrity in all spheres.

‘The region’s young people bring fresh perspectives, technological fluency, and a determination to challenge outdated practices that have impeded progress. By investing in youth-led initiatives and creating platforms for young voices in governance discussions, the Bank supports the emergence of a generation that will demand and deliver higher standards of institutional integrity.’

Best said as global progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) remains critically off-track, the CDB reaffirms its commitment to serving as a champion for anti-corruption and good governance.

He said effective anti-corruption systems enable institutions to operate more effectively, attract sustainable financing, and deliver development outcomes that genuinely transform lives.

‘Now, as the urgency of strengthening anti-corruption mechanisms has never been greater, the Bank will continue to work alongside governments, civil society, and especially young people to build a Caribbean where development resources fulfill their promise, where institutions operate with unwavering integrity, and where every citizen can trust that development serves the public good,’ Best added.

National Security Minister, St. Clair Leacock, says former prime minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves is not entitled to the detail of six police officers and that he will only be given what he is entitled to from the state.

‘I hope by the weekend that had been trimmed because that conversation took place. He had a detail with as many as six policemen with the senior person in that detail being an inspector. He’s not entitled to that,’ Leacock said.

Gonsalves, who served as prime minister from March 2001 to November this year, said recently that he was expecting ‘usual courtesies and privileges attendant upon the former holders of this high office in St. Vincent and the Grenadines consonant with the practices of civilised nations’.

The former prime minister did not elaborate but said, ‘any derogation therefrom ‘will be brought to the attention of the national, regional and international communities for corrective action.’

Leacock, who is also deputy prime minister, told a radio programme that he understood that for a short time, a police detail of six officers had been assigned to the former prime minister.

‘Then the protocol that has to be confirmed is that if an opposition leader is functioning and you’re still active in politics, you’re still politically active, you are not entitled to that security blanket. So, he will have to make up his mind as to what degree of courtesy you will extend to him,’ Leacock said.

‘Clearly, if he’s retired to active politics, the courtesy of a security or a driver to facilitate his going about his business is in order but you can’t have it both ways. Nor must he have those securities in a way to pretend that it’s business as usual, nothing has changed.’

Leacock said that the six officers had been reduced to two.

‘And if that is not in place, then the commissioner of police will have to give an accountability as to why this large entourage.’

The National Security Minister said that he would prefer that any security detail assigned to the former prime minister not wear their uniform so as not to ‘give a sense that the police forces at work in his charge’.

He said the officers could be assigned to Gonsalves to provide any assistance that is necessary, either as driver or security, ‘but he is not going to have a party of six’.

After leaving politics, the late Sir James Mitchell, who was prime minister from 1984 to October 2000, was assigned a police driver to transport him to official functions only, and the officer drove the former prime minister’s personal vehicle.

Leacock said that Arnhim Eustace – who was prime minister from October 2000 to March 2001 and then opposition leader until November 2016 – got police assistance after he left politics in 2020 and then his health failed.

‘And a police officer was provided for him as a driver, and perhaps to the extent that they are police and you’re driver, they are intertwined. But he didn’t have two. And definitely, Dr. Friday had none.’

Godwin Friday, who is now prime minister, served as opposition leader from November 2016 to November 2025. Unlike Eustace and Gonsalves, he had not served as prime minister before becoming opposition leader.

Leacock said that the issue of security for Gonsalves is under investigation, and the government was awaiting a cabinet record that says that there should be a specific entitlement.

‘We are not so convinced, and therefore, to the extent that that cannot be provided, we will do the right thing,’ Leacock said.