A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

BAHAMAS: Immigration minister quits after Anna Nicole Smith photo controversy

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) _ The leader of the main opposition party in the Bahamas scolded the government Monday for not acting sooner to remove the country's immigration minister over his seemingly preferential treatment to former Playboy Playmate Anna Nicole Smith.

Hubert Ingraham, leader of the opposition Free National Movement, said Prime Minister Perrie Christie should not have waited until Immigration Minister Shane Gibson offered his resignation on Sunday night to remove him from the Cabinet.

Gibson had been under fire since four days after Smith's death when a local newspaper published photos of him embracing her on a bed.

"It is a scandal that has done much damage to the country," said Ingraham, a former prime minister, at a news conference in the capital of Nassau.

Ingraham accused Gibson of abusing his post by fast-tracking Smith's residency permit because of his friendship with the former model who died Feb. 8 in Florida. Smith's death has set off a battle over her 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn, and her potential inheritance.

Ingraham said Gibson "rushed through" the approval of permit for Smith, who he said was "not a suitable person" for Bahamas residency because of her notoriety.

By law, the prime minister must call elections in 2007 but a date has not been set.

VIRGIN ISLANDS: Puerto Rican jockey trampled to death

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) _ Puerto Rican jockey Manuel Caraballo has died after being trampled during a race, authorities in the U.S. Virgin Islands said Monday.

Caraballo, a jockey with more than 40 years experience and who was semiretired, fell from his horse Emilin on Sunday in front of some 2,000 spectators in St. Croix.

He was taken to a hospital in the U.S. island territory and died that night, said Police Chief Novelle Francis said. Caraballo's exact age was not immediately available.

The Camarerro Race Track in Canovanas, Puerto Rico, where Caraballo had raced since 1960, lists him as the ninth-winningest jockey at that venue with 1,420 victories.

BAHAMAS: Bahamian gets life for slaying of Austrian couple

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) _ A Bahamian man was sentenced to life in prison on Monday for the killing of an Austrian couple at a Bimini resort in 2005. He could have received the death penalty.

At a hearing in the capital of Nassau, a judge sentenced Frederick Francis, 23, to three concurrent life terms _ one for each murder and one for robbery.

The defense had argued that Francis should be spared the death penalty because he was mentally unstable and using drugs at the time of the killing in the Bimini islands of the Bahamas.

Defense attorney Carlson Shurland said he had no plans to appeal.

"I'm finished with this case. I did my best," Shurland told The Associated Press after the hearing. "I saved his neck from the gallows."

Francis was convicted in August of killing Austrian citizens Bernhard Bolzano, 34, and Barbara Frein von Perfall, 32, at the Bimini Blue Water Resort in Alice Town, Bimini, in July 2005.

DOMINICAN: Central bank says economy grew 10.7 percent last year

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ The Dominican Republic's economy in 2006 experienced its highest growth in almost two decades, the Central Bank said Monday.

Gross domestic product grew 10.7 percent as inflation fell to 5 percent, marking a continued recovery from a 2003 banking crisis that wiped out much of the country's economy.

Construction, communications and the financial sector grew the most over the year, each registering more than 20 percent growth.

The country's free-trade zones, facing increased competition for the U.S. market, declined 8.3 percent. Nonetheless, more than 61,000 jobs were created and unemployment dropped to 16 percent.

Overall, it was the best performance since 1987, the bank said.

HAITI: U.N. arrests wanted gang leader in Haitian slum

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ The United Nations said Monday it has captured a Haitian gang leader wanted in the killing of family members of two cohorts who had agreed to join a disarmament program.

On a routine patrol Sunday night, peacekeepers arrested Johnny Pierre Louis in the seaside slum of Cite Soleil, the U.N. mission said in a statement.

Louis, also known as Ti Bazil, will be turned over to Haitian national police, U.N. spokeswoman Sophie Boutaud de la Combe said.

The arrest came 10 days after hundreds of U.N. troops raided Cite Soleil to dislodge armed gangs, which are blamed for a string of kidnappings and killings in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. At least one gang member was killed and four wounded.

The U.N. said Louis took orders from another Cite Soleil gang leader known as Evens, who went into hiding after the raid.

HAITI: Haitian carnival anthems take aim at U.N. peacekeepers

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) _ Songs lampooning politicians have always been a fixture of Haiti's carnival, but this year, musicians have a new favorite target: U.N. peacekeepers.

The airwaves have been filled with satirical songs about the U.N. force, known by its French acronym MINUSTAH, which has been trying to restore order to Haiti since the 2004 rebellion that toppled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

"MINUSTAH, you're really just a tourista. You're holding back my country," the group Vwadezil sings in one popular song. "You're just lounging around so why don't you get ... out."

The songs, known as "meringues," add a political dimension to the three-day carnival celebrations. The rum-fueled festivities bring even more chaos to the bustling streets of downtown Port-au-Prince, with tens of thousands of people dancing to live bands on floats.

Haiti's government spent US$2 million (euro1.5 million) on this year's carnival, hoping to lure tourists, especially Haitians living in the United States.

CUBA: Cuban government to keep offices open longer

HAVANA (AP) _ Cuban officials are tackling problems such as child care, poor lighting and insufficient transportation for workers so they can keep some government offices open later, the Communist labor newspaper reported Monday.

The goal is to have offices open at times when people can use them before or after their own eight-hour workdays, taking advantage of an expanding economy.

Trabajadores, published by Cuba's Communist Party labor federation, reported that some notaries and civil registries in Havana are already working until 8 p.m. and officials hope to expand hours at least some days of the week at child care centers, primary schools, hair dressers and workshops.

The effort is linked to a government campaign for greater discipline among workers, with a crackdown on absenteeism, overlong lunch breaks, sloppy work and theft.

Officials were working to overcome problems such as insufficient lighting and transportation at night while supplying meals and child care at different times for workers, Trabajadores reported.

CUBA: Panama's doctors trained in medical hypnosis

HAVANA (AP) _ Cuba, whose doctors have experimented with dozens of alternative treatments, is training Panamanian therapists in the medical use of hypnosis, the government news agency AIN reported Monday.

The agency said that 80 Panamanians graduated from courses held in the Central American country under a program with Cuba's Higher Institute of Medical Sciences, based in the eastern city of Santiago.

Cuba's best-known researcher in the field, Alberto Cobian, has said that hypnosis can be useful in treating stress, bronchial asthma, sexual dysfunction and some types of skin diseases, as well as offering some anesthetic effects, the agency reported.

An economic collapse in the early 1990s created dire shortages of many conventional medicines in Cuba, prompting widespread research into and use of alternative treatments such as herbal medicines and acupuncture. Cuba also has used its extensive medical system as a bridge of cooperation with other countries, offering training and sending tens of thousands of its own doctors abroad on medical missions.