Compiled By NAN Staff Editor
News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Tues. Jan. 17, 2017: Here are the stories making news across the Caribbean, Latin America and its US Diaspora for today, Jan. 17, 2017:
US
A 31-year-old U.S. resident has been extradited to the Dutch Caribbean island of Saba to face charges in the April 2015 killing of a California medical student. Dutch Caribbean law enforcement officials say Senad Cejvan, a citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina and a legal permanent resident of Missouri, will face charges that include murder, rape and possession of child pornography. Cejvan was a student at the Saba University School of Medicine with the victim, 24-year-old Kavya Guda of Fremont, California. Authorities say he abruptly left the Dutch island after she was found strangled. They say nearly 10,000 images of child pornography were later found on a computer he left behind.
BAHAMAS
Canada’s Prime Minister is being investigates for a holiday he took in The Bahamas. Canada’s ethics watchdog said Monday it is investigating PM Justin Trudeau for potential breaches related to his recent holiday on a Bahamas island owned by the Aga Khan. Trudeau has been confronted with repeated questions from the opposition about his vacation in the Bahamas over the New Year’s holiday and said last week that he had flown there by private helicopter.
MEXICO
Five people including two Canadians, an Italian and a Colombian citizen, were killed by a gunman at a club hosting an electronic music festival in the Mexican resort of Playa del Carmen, in Quintana Roo state. The shooting happened at the Blue Parrot club hosting the BPM festival. Local Police Chief Rodolfo del Angel told Milenio TV [in Spanish] that the shooting was triggered “by a disagreement between individuals inside the club.”
BRAZIL
Brazilian healthcare regulator Anvisa on Monday said it had issued the country’s first license for sale of a cannabis-based drug in the country after years of legal wrangling with patients. The multiple sclerosis treatment, an oral spray derived from marijuana and developed by Britain’s GW Pharmaceuticals PLC, is known as Sativex internationally and will be sold in Brazil under the brand name Mevatyl. Anvisa has loosened some restrictions in the past two years, allowing patients with medical orders to personally import some drugs derived from marijuana.
VENEZUELA
Venezuela has issued new larger denomination banknotes in response to the country’s soaring rate of inflation. The three notes, ranging from 500 to 20,000-bolivars, have entered circulation with the aim of making paying for essentials easier. The new notes come as inflation in Venezuela is forecast to reach 1,600 percent this year.
BVI
The BVI Government recently enacted a new revenue-increasing measure which raises the fees for annual and temporary work permits.
The new fees contained in the BVI Statutory Rates, Fees and Charges (Amendment of Schedule) Order 2016 are first subdivided by industry, and then by role. For example, an annual work permit fee for a Clerical Support Worker working in the Accommodation & Food Service Activities industry is $450 but the same role in the Arts, Entertainment & Recreation industry costs $528.
COSTA RICA
Costa Rica’s government said on Monday it has filed a complaint against Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice for establishing a military post on its territory, heightening the risk of renewed tensions between the two nations. Costa Rican foreign minister Manuel Gonzalez said Nicaragua had occupied a beach on Isla Calero in northeastern Costa Rica in November 2016, a virtually uninhabited area where both countries have a historic border dispute.
WEIRD NEWS
Third generation fisherman David Soares landed the biggest tuna caught in Bermuda’s waters on Saturday morning and he did so single-handedly in 15 minutes flat, according to the Bermuda Royal Gazette. Soares said he had the fish confirmed by the fisheries department as a 1004lb giant bluefin tuna, the heaviest recorded in the island’s history. Soares, a full-time commercial fisherman, told The Royal Gazette: “I was just out trawling for the day — that is how I make my livelihood.
MUSIC NEWS
Jamaican American singer Sean Kingston has finally released a new song. After years of trying to come back following “Beautiful Girls,” Kingston has released “Pocket Watching.” The song is produced by RETRO and in it the singer calls out the broke dudes who stay glued to his cheese, watching his every flashy move while he’s in the club as he sings: “You a broke boi, that’s a joke boi. Walk inside the club, tryna spend a dub. While you choke boy when you smoke boy. You get no love.”
