Category: CANA News

New York Attorney General Letitia James has warned New Yorkers to be cautious in charitable giving for Caribbean hurricane relief.

James urged New Yorkers on Friday to be careful in supporting relief efforts in response to the devastating effects of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica and across some Caribbean islands.

She said The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) warns New Yorkers to be ‘wary of sham charities attempting to take advantage of their concern’ and encourages everyone to ensure they are donating to legitimate charitable efforts and organizations.

‘My heart breaks for the victims of Hurricane Melissa, and I thank the brave first responders who have jumped into action to provide aid,’ said Attorney General James. ‘As New Yorkers seek to support relief efforts, I urge them to be careful of sham charities that prey on generosity and make sure they are giving to trustworthy organizations and groups.

‘I encourage anyone who experiences any issues when donating to contact my office,’ she added.

James warned that fraudulent organizations can try to take advantage of New Yorkers’ good intentions, especially following natural disasters.

‘Given the significant impact of Hurricane Melissa across the Caribbean, it is essential for New Yorkers to be informed as they seek to help those in need,’ she said.

‘Find Out Who Is Soliciting. If you receive a solicitation by email, find out who is behind that email address. Contact the charity whose name is in the email or visit its website to find out if the email is really from the charity,’ she urged. ‘Do not give personal information or your credit card number in response to an email solicitation unless you have checked out the charity.

‘Before giving through social media or fundraising sites, research the identity of the organizer of the fundraising efforts and ask the same questions you would of a charity,’ James added. ‘Online platforms that host groups and individuals soliciting for causes may not thoroughly vet those who use their service. Donors should only give to campaigns conducted by people whom they know. Donors also should take a close look at the site’s FAQs (frequently asked questions) and Terms and Conditions to see what fees will be charged.

‘Also, don’t assume that charities recommended on social media sites, blogs, or other websites have already been vetted,’ she continued. ‘Research the charity yourself to confirm that the charity is aware of the campaign and has given its approved permission for the use of its name or logo. If available, sign up for updates from the campaign organizer to keep abreast of how contributions to the campaign are being spent.’

Meantime, as the Caribbean reels from the devastating impact of Hurricane Melissa, the United Nations said on Friday that humanitarian agencies are stepping up efforts to bring relief to thousands of affected people.

The UN said torrential rain, storm surges and landslides caused by the hurricane have left a trail of destruction across the region, with homes flattened, roads and bridges washed away, and vast areas still without power or Internet access and other telecommunications.

The UN humanitarian affairs office (OCHA) said that aid supplies are on the way and that emergency teams are supporting government responses in Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti.

In Jamaica, the UN said its World Food Program (WFP) has assisted the government with logistics, communications, and cash-based support, delivering 5,000 food kits – enough to feed 15,000 people for a week.

The situation in the southern part of the country remains ‘apocalyptic’, with homes submerged, roads blocked, and people sleeping in the streets, said Brian Bogart, WFP Country Director.

Despite this, Bogart noted that prior preparedness efforts had helped speed up the response, but he emphasized that Jamaica’s resilience ‘must now be supported.’

The UN said it is deploying emergency medical teams, supporting water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) efforts, providing psychological care, and assisting with disease surveillance.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is preparing to send 5.5 tons of humanitarian aid, including health and trauma kits, medical backpacks, tents, water supplies, mosquito nets, and personal protective equipment, the UN said.

More than 284,000 Jamaican children are now in urgent need of support in the areas of health, education, nutrition, and protection, said the local UN child agency, UNICEF team.

‘Yesterday, we were on our way to Black River in St. Elizabeth, one of the hardest hit areas, but the roads were blocked with fallen trees and power lines, and this prevented us from reaching the most affected communities,’ said the top UNICEF official on the island, Olga Isaza.

The UN said the agency is responding swiftly to support the government and other partners to assess the needs and deliver pre-positioned supplies including food, clean water, medicines, and emergency hygiene kits. Additional humanitarian aid is ready to be airlifted, the UN said.

Meanwhile, from its Regional Strategic Stockpile in Panama, the UN said PAHO has dispatched 2.6 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba.

The UN said the shipment includes emergency kits with medicines, medical, and surgical supplies sufficient to care for 5,000 people for three months.

It also includes chlorine tablets to treat millions of liters of water, along with essential medical and shelter supplies, the UN said.

UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said that, in eastern Cuba, ‘preliminary assessments indicate severe damage across Santiago, Holguín, Granma and Guantánamo, including to homes, roads, and health facilities,’ adding that ‘hundreds of communities remain isolated, and access continues to be hampered by damaged road, rail, and air transport infrastructure.’

Dujarric said that once ground communications are restored, supplies will be sent to the most affected areas of eastern Cuba.

He said that the UN ‘along with our partners are supporting national authorities with assessments and early recovery plans.’

Guyana says while it remains open to continued engagement with international stakeholders it would continue to advocate the necessity for continuous scrutiny of methodologies, transparent disclosure of sample sizes, and the timely updating of datasets to ensure that global indices accurately portray current conditions, particularly for countries in the global south.

The Irfaan Ali government has raised its concerns following the latest publication of the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 in which the country is ranked 80th down from its 78th position last year. ‘ The 2025 report, without question, relies on older datasets including a household polling data which originates from 2018 and 2022 by the StatMark Group. Of note, neither of these face-to-face surveys were ever made public at the time nor does the public know of the StatMark Group,’ the government said in a statement.

‘Guyana remains open to continued engagement with international partners and other monitoring mechanisms, as is evidenced in the two large scale reviews undertaken just this year through the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (UNCAC) and the United Nations Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

‘However, the Government continues to underscore the necessity for continuous scrutiny of methodologies, transparent disclosure of sample sizes, and the timely updating of datasets to ensure that global indices accurately portray current conditions, particularly for countries in the global south. The use of outdated data from 2018 and 2022 must not be misconstrued as depicting Guyana’s 2025 governance environment,’ the statement said.

The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance said the work of the international stakeholders complement the country’s own ongoing commitments under international frameworks including the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), the Inter-American Convention against Corruption through the MESICIC, the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), and the International Monetary Fund Article IV, UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, UN Human Rights Council, UN Treaty Bodies and other development partners.

It said that by its own admission, the 2025 report states that ‘where rule of law is stronger, so is the economy’ Guyana, as one of the fastest growing economies, is a living example of this.

‘The report therefore cannot be construed as a real reflection of Guyana’s 2025 realities, particularly given ongoing institutional and legislative reforms across governance and justice sectors after 2022, and certainly since 2018.’

The government said it is urging the media and public to consult official data sources and exercise critical review when interpreting or reproducing third-party publications, particularly in this case where the data being used is as old as seven years ago.

‘While these rankings such as in the WJP 2025 Rule of Law Index 2025 may provide attractive sound bites for some, on closer examination, they do not independently reflect progress unless accompanied by nominal scores and underlying datasets.

‘The absence of detailed nominal values for the sub-factors limits the analytical value of the rankings, especially in the context of informing policy application and public understanding,’ Georgetown added.

Scoreboard of the third and final T20 International between Bangladesh and the West Indies here on Friday at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium.

BANGLADESH

Tanzid Hasan c Holder b Shepherd 89

Parvez Hossain Emon c Motie b Chase 9

*+Litton Das c Motie b Pierre 6

Saif Hassan c Auguste b Holder 23

Rishad Hossain lbw b Pierre 3

Nurul Hasan c Powell b Shepherd 1

Nasum Ahmed c Powell b Hosein 1

Jaker Ali lbw b Holder 5

Mahedi Hasan not out 0

Shoriful Islam b Shepherd 0

Taskin Ahmed run out 9

Extras (w5) 5

TOTAL (all out; 20 overs) 151

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-44, 3-107, 4-118, 5-126, 6-133, 7-142, 8-142, 9-142, 10-151.

Bowling: Holder 4-0-32-2, Hosein 4-0-26-1, Shepherd 4-0-36-3, Chase 4-0-23-1, Pierre 3-0-23-2, Motie 1-0-11-0.

WEST INDIES

Alick Athanaze st+ Das b Hasan 1

+Amir Jangoo lbw b Hossain 34

Brandon King b N Ahmed 8

*Roston Chase b R Hossain 50

Ackeem Auguste c Hasan b R Hossain 50

Rovman Powell not out 5

Gudakesh Motie not out 3

Extras (w1) 1

TOTAL (five wickets; 16.5 overs) 152

Did not bat: Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Khary Pierre.

Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-37, 3-52, 4-143, 5-144.

Bowling: Hasan 4-0-18-1, Islam 2-0-12-0, T Ahmed 3.5-0-50-0, N Ahmed 3-0-29-1, R Hossain 4-0-43-3.

Toss: Bangladesh elected to bat.

Result: West Indies won by five wickets to sweep the three-match series 3-0.

Player-of-the-Match: Roston Chase.

Player-of-the-Series: Romario Shepherd.

Umpires: Masudur Rahman, Sharfuddoula.

TV Umpire: Gazi Sohel.

Reserve Umpire: Morshed Ali Khan.

Match Referee: Dean Cosker.

Principal Magistrate Judy Latchman Friday granted GUY$150,000 (one Guyana dollar=US$0.008 cents) bail to billionaire businessmen Nazar Mohamed and his son, Azruddin Mohamed, after they had been arrested following an extradition request from the United States government.

The younger Mohamed, the leader of the main opposition We Invest in Nationhood (WIN) party that won the second most seats in the National Assembly following the September 3 regional and general elections, was arrested outside the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) office on Friday. The matter has been adjourned to November 11.

The Georgetown Magistrates’ Court also also ordered that the men surrender their passports and report to the Ruimveldt Police Station every Friday, beginning November 7, 2025.

The Office of the Attorney General said that the Mohameds, a team of lawyers led by Terrence Willaims, KC, Herbert McKenzie and Celine Deidrick, presented to the Magistrate an Authority to Proceed from the Guyana government accompanied by an Application for an Arrest Warrant as is mandated under the provision of the Act.

The Mohameds are the subject of an indictment unsealed on October 6, 2025, by a United States Grand Jury sitting in the Southern District of Florida, which charges them with multiple offences including wire fraud, mail fraud, money-laundering, conspiracy, aiding and abetting and customs-related violations connected to an alleged US$50 million gold export and tax evasion scheme.

The indictment alleges that between 2017 and June 2024, the accused conspired to defraud the Guyana government by evading export taxes and royalties on over 10,000 kilograms of gold, using falsified customs declarations and re-used export seals to disguise unpaid duties. The indictment further references the attempted shipment of US$5.3 million in undeclared gold seized at Miami International Airport, and the alleged under-invoicing of a luxury vehicle valued at over US$680,000.

The Mohameds are being represented by attorneys Siand Dhurjon, Nigel Hughes, and Roysdale Forde, who have argued that the extradition move was unconstitutional and outside the court’s jurisdiction, and that their clients were never questioned nor given a chance to respond before their arrest.

Forde has dismissed the ‘flight risk’ argument as baseless and noted that Azruddin Mohamed is the presumptive Leader of the Opposition. He said that both men have deep roots in Guyana and are willing to comply with all court-imposed conditions.

Dhurjon said the defence team also alleged a constitutional breach in the amendment to the Fugitives Offender Act, submitting that ‘the constitution says where we raise such a constitutional point, the magistrate is duty-bound to refer it to the High Court.’

‘So, we come back in November.to debate on that point further,’ Dhurjon noted.

The Deputy Director for the Caribbean at the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Victoria Penson, will be among speakers addressing the opening of the Caribbean Sustainable Infrastructure Conference (CSIC) 2025 that gets underway here on Monday.

The SIC 2025 will bring together regional leaders, development partners and infrastructure practitioners to catalyse collaboration and action across four pillars, namely tackling climate risks, promoting equity and gender inclusion, advancing innovation-led economic development and fostering governance and institutional coherence. The two day event is being organised by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in partnership with the United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Agence Francais de Developpment (AFD).

According to the organisers the event will spotlight the urgent need for sustainable infrastructure investments in the Caribbean, balancing economic growth, social inclusion, environmental resilience, and strong institutions.

It said that the participants highlight action points for building a more resilient, inclusive, and sustainable Caribbean future.

Apart from Penson, other speakers on the opening day of the conference include H. Elizabeth Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Barbados with Responsibility for Climate Change, Small Island Developing States, and Law of the Sea, as well as Marc Dubernet, Regional Director, Agence Française de Développement.

The British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Simon Mustard and the CDB’s president, Daniel M. Best, will address the closing ceremony.

Suriname sprinter Issamade Asinga will have to serve a four-year ban imposed by World Athletics after his appeal was denied by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday.

The 20-year-old Asinga, who previously held the World Under-20 men’s 100 metre record of 9.89 seconds, was provisionally suspended in 2023 by the Athletics Integrity Unit after testing positive for the banned substance GW1516.

On May 27, 2024, he was officially banned for four years by World Athletics and all of his results since July 18, 2023, have been disqualified. Asinga, who will be eligible to compete in 2027, attributed his positive doping test to Gatorade products he had received after being named the Gatorade 2023 National Boys Track and Field Player of the Year in the United States.

The sprinter indicated that he had taken gummies, which were in Gatorade’s package as part of his selection, a week before the doping test.

Asinga sued Gatorade in 2024, but in April 2025, a U.S. District Judge dismissed the case.

In their ruling handed down, CAS rejected the request of the Surinamese sprinter to reduce or reverse his doping suspension.

‘After reviewing the evidence, the athlete has failed to demonstrate that it was more than likely that the gummies he had ingested before his anti-doping test were contaminated with GW1516.

‘Therefore, a lesser penalty for no guilt or negligence did not apply. The athlete also failed to demonstrate that his positive doping test was not intentional,’ CAS ruled.

Chairman of the Surinamese Athletics Federation (SAB), Dennis Mac Donald expressed his disappointment at the decision.

‘It is not pleasant news for the athlete and the federation. It’s a shame, but we have to move on. At least we had hoped for a reduction. We did not expect this,’ Mac Donald said.

Asinga introduced himself on the world stage with a breathtaking run of 9.89 seconds at the South American Championships, a World Under-20 record and Suriname national record at the time.

Bangladesh reached 150 in their 20 overs after electing to bat against West Indies in the third and final T20 International here on Friday at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium.

BANGLADESH 151 in 20 overs (Tanzid Hasan 89, Saif Hassan 23; Romario Shepherd 3-36, Khary Pierre 2-23, Jason Holder 2-32).

The United Nations Friday described as ‘extrajudicial killings’ as it strongly condemned the United States for striking vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific allegedly carrying drug traffickers.

‘These attacks – and their mounting human cost – are unacceptable. The US must halt such attacks and take all measures necessary to prevent the extrajudicial killing of people aboard these boats, whatever the criminal conduct alleged against them,’ the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Turk, said in a statement, in what is seen as the first condemnation from United Nations organisations over the strikes on the vessels. Last month, President Donald Trump ramped up US military presence in the Caribbean Sea ordering an amphibious squadron to the southern Caribbean as part of his effort to address threats from Latin American drug cartels.

A nuclear-powered attack submarine, additional P8 Poseidon reconnaissance aircraft, several destroyers and a guided-missile cruiser have also being allocated to US Southern Command as part of the mission.

The United States military has carried out deadly air strikes in Caribbean waters over the past few weeks against what Washington alleges are Caracas-backed drug traffickers. The Venezuelan government denies the charge, accusing the administration of being a threat to the peace and security of the whole region.

Trinidad and Tobago has come out in full support for the US action, with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar already indicating that the drug traffickers should be killed ‘violently’.

Earlier this week, Venezuela parliament passed a motion declaring her persona non grata and President Nicolas Maduro also announced the immediate’ suspension of energy agreements with Trinidad and Tobago.

But Trinidad and Tobago Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Sean Sobers PORT of Spain Government is ‘unbothered’ by the situation, insisting that the two countries enjoy good diplomatic relations.

The UN human rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that Turk has called for an investigation into the strikes.

‘These attacks and their mounting human cost are unacceptable,’ she told a UN briefing in Geneva.

Trk believed ‘airstrikes by the United States of America on boats in the Caribbean and in the Pacific violate international human rights law.’

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday announced the latest U.S. military strike in the campaign, against a boat he said was carrying drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean. All four people aboard were killed. It was the 14th strike since the campaign began in early September, while the death toll has grown to at least 61.

The UN said that countries have long agreed that the fight against illicit drug trafficking is a law-enforcement matter governed by ‘careful limits’ placed on the use of lethal force.

Intentional use of lethal force is allowed only as a last resort against someone representing ‘an imminent threat to life.

The strikes are taking place ‘outside the context’ of armed conflict or active hostilities, ghe UN noted.

The following is the CANANews and SPORTS Schedule for Friday, October 31, 2025.

PORT OF SPAIN – Tinidad Parliament debating further three month extension of state of emergecy (SoE).

HAMILTON – Hurricane Meilissa is quickly moving away from Bermuda on Friday after leaving a trial of death, damage and destruction in several Caribbean countries this week.

PORT-AU-PRINCE – Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé, has expressed his ‘deepest sympathies’ to the families of the victims of Hurricane Melissa, whose passage near the French-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country earlier this week left 24 people dead and at least 13 others still missing.

KINGSTON – An 18-year-old pregnant woman is among the 19 people reportedly killed when Hurricane Melissa, the category 5 storm slammed into the island on Tuesday, the Jamaica Gleaner newspaper reported on Friday.

CASTRIES – The St. Lucia government says it will formalise new pathways for cooperation with the Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF), marking what it termed ‘the start of a deeper partnership focused on unlocking investment and strengthening regional collaboration to advance St. Lucia’s national development agenda’.

SPORTS:

CHATTOGRAM – West Indies register series sweep against Bangladesh in their three-match T20 International series at the Bir Sreshtho Flight Lieutenant Matiur Rahman Stadium on Friday.

A former Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court judge, has strongly condemned the Public Service Commission’s (PSC) handling of the departure of former Superintendent of Police, Tafawa Pierre, describing the move as an ‘overreaching’ breach of constitutional rights.

Speaking on the weekend podcast, The Bubb Report, James (Jimmy) Bristol K.C, a former attorney general, was critical of the PSC’s justification for forcing Pierre into retirement.

Pierre, who earlier appeared on another podcast, said he had been asked to tender his resignation on the grounds that the Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell, who is also the National Security Minister, had lost confidence in his ability to execute his duties given that his wife, wife Emmalin Pierre is the leader of the main opposition New National Party (NNP) as well as the Opposition Leader in Parliament.

Pierre said the PSC chairperson, attorney Deborah St. Bernard, had also pointed to a conflict of interest in asking him to resign and take early retirement.

But Bristol told the podcast ‘there can be no conflict of interest situation there.

‘There can only be a conflict of interest if the leader of the opposition is accused of some offense and he has to investigate, then he recuses himself from the investigation. He doesn’t lose his job.’

Bristol said that Pierre, who had more than three decades of service to the Royal Grenada Police Force and a pristine record, was wrongly pressured out of office.

‘The documents I’ve seen indicate that Mr. Pierre was told, despite his exemplary service and commendations, that his services should come to an end because. his wife is the leader of the opposition, so they want him out. But that is a lot of hogwash,’ Bristol said.

According to Bristol, the Constitution provides safeguards for public officers, specifically under Section 84, whereby removal from office must be for disciplinary cause and according to proper procedures.

‘Removal in the Constitution from office can only mean removal for cause, and that’s been decided by the courts. You can’t just remove somebody,’ Bristol said, adding that the PSC was acting beyond its authority.

‘So the forced removal, by forcing him into retirement, is unconstitutional because of the protections afforded by Section 84 of the Constitution, which are there for a reason,’ Bristol argued, further calling the move ‘very underhand, overreaching, [and] unconstitutional.

‘There’s no conflict of interest. If the government perceives a conflict, it can only apply in a given situation where you will recuse yourself. He doesn’t lose his job,’ Bristol said, criticising criticized what he described as ‘political’ motivations.

‘It’s just on the basis that his wife is the leader of the opposition, and that’s a no-no. Okay? He was bullied into demitting office. They had no authority to do so.’

As a result, Bristol asserted, Pierre remains well within his rights to take legal action for vindicatory compensation.

‘You can still take action against the government for what are called vindicatory damages to vindicate him because of the overreaching by the Public Service Commission,’ he said, referencing precedents set in similar cases.

‘You cannot, as a matter of public policy, contract out of statutory rights which are there for your protection.’

The former attorney general cautioned that practices like these undermine the principles of good governance and warned that adherence to constitutional rules is essential for Grenada’s democratic health.

‘The Constitution guarantees freedom of association. it’s up to us as citizens to ensure the country is run properly. It’s not up to the government,’ said Bristol, who served as attorney general under a previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration.

‘How could people who are so well-read in the law run afoul of the law? But it happens all the time. It’s sad.’

President of the Grenada Public Service Commission and the Caribbean Public Service Association (CPSA), Daisy Hazzard, who was also on the podcast, expressed concern over the reported forced retirement of Pierre, focusing on principles of fairness, due process, and the need for the PSC to act independently and in accordance with the Constitution.

She said that her involvement came as CPSA president and not just the Grenada Public Workers Union (GPWU), after receiving correspondence from Pierre about his ‘forced retirement’ and the alleged undermining of PSC independence.

Hazzard said she could not speak to whether Pierre retired voluntarily, but noted ‘I can speak to the letter that is before me,’ noting that officers above the rank of inspector fall under PSC authority, and are ‘managed by the rules and regulations of the Public Service Commission. according to the Grenada Constitution’.

On whether Pierre’s rights were violated, Hazzard explained the established grounds and procedures for PSC-mandated retirement, including the right to representation and proper notice.

‘There is ambit, and there is hope for the PSC to retire an officer, even if the officer has not attained the age of majority. where an officer is accused of misconduct, he has a right to representation. He has a right to know what he’s accused of. there are remedies set out within the scope of the PSC rules and regulations.’

Hazzard stressed that, according to her research, there was ‘nothing which speaks to conflict of interest because of who your partner or your spouse is.’

She said that the cited reason does not constitute grounds for dismissal, and that the union’s research found ‘no allegation of wrongdoing’ in the official documents.

She also highlighted the need for the PSC to be an inviolable and impartial body, ‘there to protect workers from excesses, especially of politicians,’ and emphasized continual dialogue with the PSC’s union representative given concerns about this case.

‘If he was violated, if he was not given a fair hearing procedurally, so then that was not correct at all.’

Hazzard suggested that if Pierre believed his rights were violated, he should consider seeking formal redress beyond the media.

‘If you really believe that your rights are violated, you’ve done a round of the media, then take it to where you can get redress, because public media will only give you moral satisfaction, but that’s a matter for him to decide.’