Asianet Pakistan Private Limited

India reached 448 for five, an overall lead of 286 runs, against West Indies at the close of play on the second day of the first Test here at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Friday.

Scores

WEST INDIES 162.

INDIA 448-5 in 128 overs (Dhruv Jurel 125, Ravindra Jadeja 104 not out, KL Rahul 100, Shubman Gill 50, Yashasvi Jaiswal 36; Roston Chase 2-90).

Magistrate Ngaio Emanuel Friday sentenced a former police officer, Karim Warner, to one year in jail, after he was found guilty of discharging his firearm in a public place on December 3, 2022.

Magistrate Emanuel emphasised the seriousness of the offence, noting the risk to public safety.

The magistrate had earlier this week postponed the sentencing after the prosecutors said Warner fired 12 rounds at a motor vehicle with two occupants after a confrontation during an attempt to reclaim a leased vehicle. No one was injured.

The court heard that the male occupant refused to hand over the car before shots were fired., The 37-year-old father of two, had broken down in tears in the St John’s Magistrates’ Court this week after he was found guilty of the charge.

Warner had initially faced charges for discharging a firearm in a public place and assaulting both vehicle occupants. He maintained his innocence, entering not guilty pleas.

In February, the prosecution dropped the assault charges entirely and the situation became more complicated when the male complainant failed to appear for trial and formally withdrew from the case, stating he no longer wished to participate in the proceedings.

Despite these setbacks, Magistrate Emanuel continued with the remaining charge of discharging a firearm in a public place with testimony from four witnesses, including the female complainant, a taxi driver, police officers, and additional witnesses.

Following the prosecution’s presentation, defense attorney Andrew O’Kola mounted a no-case submission, contending that prosecutors had failed to meet the evidentiary threshold required to sustain the charges. O’Kola requested the case be dismissed outright.

But after considering the arguments from the state and the defence, Magistrate Emanuel rejected the no-case submission.

Jamaica police say they are determined to dismantle a woman-led crime syndicate so as to ensure a continued decline in criminal activities along the island’s island’s northern coast.

‘For this quarter, we will be fully pursuing this female-led robbery syndicate. We’ll be pushing hard against this syndicate to ensure that we bring the robberies right down. We’re going into the Yuletide season and we want persons to be able to shop in peace,’ Senior Superintendent Eron Samuels, told a news conference as he discussed ‘Operation Endgame,’ the new crime initiative.

The new anti-crime operation comes as police statistics show that St James has recorded 43 murders for the period January 1 to September 27, 2025, compared to 102 for the same period last year, a reduction of 57.8 per cent. Shootings have also dropped from 89 to 42 over the same comparative periods, a 52.8 per cent reduction.

Samuels said the efforts of the police in the St. James area ‘ will be relentless in ensuring that this robbery syndicate is fully demolished’, noting that the syndicate operates across several parishes.

Samuels said the work of the members of the division, including those in the zones of special operation (ZOSO) has been successful apprehending some of the main players.

ZOSOs are special security and community development measures implemented in specific communities in Jamaica to address rampant criminality or high rates of violence, transforming the areas by focusing on both law and order and social intervention for a more sustainable environment.

These zones are designated by Prime Minister Andrew Holness and involve the military and police working together with social transformation committees to achieve objectives such as enhancing the community and strengthening the police force.

‘They have made some major headway, but there are still splinters of the gang around, and with that joint effort across Area One we will see that robbery syndicate being dismantled,’ Samuels added.

Deputy Superintendent of Policce, Michael Moore, who is in charge of crime in St James, told reporters that more than a dozen perpetrators, who the police believe form part of this syndicate and operating in the St James area, have been detained.

‘Recently, we had five arrested and firearms were seized from them,’ Moore said, adding ‘these men mainly targeted our Chinese business community, and I can say with confidence right now the Chinese business community is breathing a sigh of relief, because we have arrested and charged these persons, and they are presently in custody’.

Moore said that the police have also seen where some of the bandits have moved to neighbouring parishes as a result of the relentless operational and investigative surge that the police in St James division have been doing.

Superintendent Lynroy Edwards, said the new anti-crime offensive will run into the new year and that Operation Endgame is to basically end badness and criminality in St James.

‘We have added more teeth to our activities, more assets, more intense, a combination of old and new strategies combined with our JDF (Jamaica Defence Force) partners and other formations.

‘The gangs, of course, have been feeling our effectiveness, and they are going to feel it even more, mark our word,’ he told reporters, urging Jamaicans to work with the police to ensure that people linked to criminal activities are shown that they are not welcome.

‘We just want the citizens to continue to cooperate with us, and to use a Jamaican colloquial term, continue to ‘shub dem out’, so we can keep the peace right across the parish.’

The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the World Bank (WB) have in collaboration with the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government have determined a set of priority actions to strengthen project implementation and ensure continued alignment with the country’s development agenda.

They have agreed to streamline their portfolios for greater efficiency, deepen their partnership to maximise resources, and assess local market conditions in light of the construction boom and the demand for skilled human resources.

They are also committed to strengthening inter-ministerial coordination, building the capacity of Project Implementation Units, contractors, and consultants, and fostering internal reflection within both institutions to adopt a more client-focused, flexible, and collaborative approach.

According to a statement issued here, the agreements are as a result of the Country Project Portfolio Review that brought together senior government officials, CDB and WB representatives, and key stakeholders to examine the status of jointly financed projects.

The discussions also highlighted national priorities in disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, resilient infrastructure, education, health systems strengthening, and economic diversification.

The statement said that lessons learned were shared from major initiatives such as the Volcanic Eruption Emergency Recovery, Hurricane Beryl Emergency Resilient Recovery, Port Modernisation, Coastal and Marine Ecosystems Management, and the Caribbean Digital Transformation.

‘By working alongside the World Bank and the government, CDB is ensuring that investments are both transformative and sustainable, tackling immediate needs while laying the groundwork for long-term growth,’ said CDB acting director of Projects, L. O’Reilly Lewis.

The World Bank Director for the Caribbean, Lilia Burunciuc, also underscored the depth of collaboration, saying ‘this review highlights the strong collaboration between the government, the World Bank, and CDB in addressing urgent recovery needs while advancing reforms that support resilience, innovation, and opportunities for Vincentians’.