Caribbean Report 23-07-2003

1. Headlines (00:00-00:34) ; 2. A gunman opens fire at New York’s City Hall causing the deaths of at least two councillors. The City’s Mayor, Michael Bloomberg says the incident appears to be a random act. City Councilman Kendall Stewart, a Vincentian is interviewed by Leslie Goffe (00:35-02:04) ; 3. A senior Catholic churchman, Bishop Benedict Singh breaks rank with the other churches and religious groups in Guyana. He says that Catholics will support a law to ban anti-gay discrimination but they remain opposed to homosexuality. A Catholic vicar and the Head of Guyana’s Anglican Church are interviewed (02:05-06:53) ; 4. According to the Minister of National Security and the Commissioner of Police, the Trinidad and Tobago government will add one thousand police to the country’s streets to counter sharp rises in the murder and kidnapping rates. Tony Fraser interviews Minister Everald Snaggs (06:54-09:08) ; 5. In Bermuda, a recent opinion poll shows the two main political parties with seemingly equal support heading into the general elections. Rebecca Wilmshurst joins Jim McKee in this report (09:09-10:59) ; 6. The World Bank says that AIDS and HIV can hit some countries hard enough for their economies to collapse. The Bank has published a report into the long-term effects of AIDS that includes damage to national wealth. It will make grim reading for the Caribbean (11:00-12:33) ; 7. Three European countries sign an agreement in Bogota to cooperate with Colombia on reducing the trafficking of cocaine. One of the main routes to Europe is through the Caribbean where a new Anti-drugs Unit will be set up. Bertram Niles reports (12:34-14:27) ; 8. Back in the United States, Trinidad and Tobago’s assistant football coach Jamal Shabazz is arrested and detained by US immigration. Based on illegal travel documents and his role in the 1990 coup, he can be sent to jail (14:28-15:32)