A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

GUANTANAMO: Australian terror suspect appears at U.S. military court

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) _ Australian terror suspect David Hicks asked for more lawyers Monday as his trial began for allegedly supporting al-Qaida in Afghanistan, but the judge instead ordered two civilian attorneys to leave his table.

Hicks is the first terror suspect to face prosecution under revised military tribunals established after the U.S. Supreme Court last year found the Pentagon's system for trying Guantanamo detainees was unconstitutional.

The heavyset Hicks, wearing a khaki prison jumpsuit, said he was satisfied with his Pentagon-appointed attorney but wanted more defense lawyers and paralegals "to get equality with the prosecution."

But the judge, Marine Col. Ralph Kohlmann, said two civilian lawyers, including a Defense Department attorney, were not authorized to represent him. They were ordered to leave the defense table when Hicks said he would not settle for them being designated as legal consultants.

One of the attorneys, Joshua Dratel, said he refused to sign an agreement to abide by tribunal rules because he was concerned the provisions do not allow him to meet with his client in private.

Hicks, a Muslim convert, is one of some 385 prisoners being held at the U.S. prison in Cuba.

Officials have said they plan to prosecute as many as 80 Guantanamo prisoners, and some could face the death penalty.

BAHAMAS: Inquest to begin into death of Anna Nicole Smith's son

NASSAU, Bahamas (AP) _ A lethal combination of drugs killed both Anna Nicole Smith and her 20-year-old son. But while authorities in Florida found no criminal wrongdoing in the Playboy Playmate's death, no such determination has been made in the young man's case.

The death of Daniel Smith, who overdosed in September while visiting his mother shortly after she gave birth, will be examined by a seven-member jury in a formal inquest scheduled to start Tuesday in the Bahamas, where the former reality TV star had taken up residence.

Chief Magistrate Roger Gomez, who is presiding over the inquest, said he expects the publicity over Anna Nicole's Feb. 8 death and the legal battle over custody of her infant daughter will make picking the jury difficult, since most Bahamians have followed media reports about the tragedies.

Gomez also expressed worry that jurors would face an "irresistible urge" to link the deaths of mother and son.

In September, Dr. Cyril Wecht, a forensic pathologist hired by Smith's family to perform an autopsy on the young man, concluded he died from methadone and two antidepressant drugs interacting in his system.

The inquest is expected to last three to four weeks.

CUBA: Government launches national campaign for new work discipline laws

HAVANA (AP) _ Cuba is cranking up a new campaign for worker productivity, hoping new rules next month will impose discipline in a work culture where tardiness and absences have long been tolerated and tiny salaries are not always enough to get people to go to work.

The official Communist Party Granma on Monday devoted its back page Monday to the new regulations, which many workers complain are too strict _ especially for the small salaries they earn. State TV in recent days has aired messages about the need to increase worker discipline.

The communist newspaper acknowledged that many workers face additional problems that will make it hard to comply with the new regulations, such as unreliable and crowded public transport and limited hours for child care.

Although minimum government salaries were increased significantly in recent years, the current average monthly pay is still just around US$15 (euro7.50).

Most Cubans pay no rent, enjoy free health care and education, and pay very little for heavily subsidized transportation and utilities and a basic food basket covering about 40 percent of dietary needs.

Unemployed Cubans enjoy the same broad net of free and low cost social services.

Cuban worker productivity plunged during the island's economic crisis on the 1990s.

CUBA: Nebraska governor negotiates new food exportation contracts with Cuba

HAVANA (AP) _ Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman and top Cuban trade officials were putting the finishing touches Monday on another round of contracts to export the U.S. state's food to the communist-run island.

It was the Republican's third visit to Havana. In 2005, he signed deals to export $30 million worth of agricultural products to Cuba, and Nebraska officials agreed to a similar deal a year ago, with about a third of those contracts executed since, the governor said.

Past agreements have sent Nebraska beans, corn, wheat, turkey, pork, beef and soy products to the island.

Cuban officials scheduled a signing ceremony at the capital's Hotel Palco for Tuesday night, but Heineman would not say how much those contracts would be worth. He said Nebraska officials are beginning to explore shipping medical supplies to Cuba, but negotiations on this trip will focus on dry beans, soy beans, wheat, beef and pork.

Washington's 45-year-old embargo chokes off most trade with Cuba, but U.S. medical supplies have been authorized for exportation to the island since 1992, and a law passed by Congress in 2000 permitted the Castro government's cash-only purchases of U.S. food and agricultural products. The measure was cheered by major U.S. farm firms interested in the untapped Cuban market.

U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS: Head of retirement plan resigns amid reports of financial irregularities

CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands, (AP) _ The administrator of the troubled U.S. Virgin Islands government retirement program has resigned amid reports of financial irregularities, officials said.

Willis Todmann, head of the US$1.3 billion (euro979 million) Government Employees Retirement System, resigned on Saturday after being placed on administrative leave on March 19, said Vincent Liger, chairman of the plan's board of directors.

"In our review of the budget, we discovered certain irregularities," said Marvin Pickering, a board trustee. "Those irregularities were presented to the chair and vice chair for action."

There was no telephone listing for Todmann, whose resignation takes effect on April 24. He was appointed administrator in 2004.

The pension system, which has an unfunded liability of US$1 billion ($753 million), has not been able to keep pace with the growth in retiree payments, partly due to early retirement programs and a decision not to fill the positions of some 4,000 civil servants who retired between 1999 and 2005.

The U.S. Virgin Islands grants pensions for life to civil servants who work for the government for at least 10 years.

CARIBBEAN: Region marks 200th anniversary of end of Britain's trans-Atlantic slave trade

ROSEAU, Dominica (AP) _ The cries of African slaves being led to cell blocks pierced the air as their lives were re-enacted by Dominicans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the end of Britain's trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Re-enactors walked in chains to Roseau's Baraccoon building, where slaves were held before being auctioned off to plantation owners in the former French and British colony, and which now houses the City Council.

Dominica's tribute was one of several across the Caribbean on Sunday: In Jamaica, symbolic funeral rites were performed in Kingston Harbor for slaves who died during the ocean journey. In Guyana, a tribute was held in the parliament buildings where slaves were beaten and sometimes hanged. In St. Lucia, students re-enacted the slaves' struggles for freedom.

A regionwide moment of silence was also held at 12:00 p.m. (1600 GMT).

"We must never forget," said Ralph Gonsalves, prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines and chairman of the Caribbean Community. "We are collectively engaged in commemorating and paying tribute to all those who triumphed over the anguish of enslavement, of injustice and disenfranchisement, and who helped to bring about the abolition of ... the trading and transportation of human cargo across the Atlantic."

Enacted on March 25, 1807, the Slave Trade Act prohibited British ships from transporting slaves, although Britain did not abolish slavery in its territories until 1833.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Thousands evacuate from flooded homes

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ Heavy rains killed at least one person and forced the evacuation of 3,800 others across the northern Dominican Republic on Monday, officials said.

Hundreds of homes were flooded and destroyed in landslides from Dajabon, near the Haitian border, to the north-central province of Monte Plata, said Orlando Letelier Mancebo De Leon of the country's emergency commission.

Dominican Army helicopters and other crews evacuated stranded people. Officials confirmed the death of Elvis Antonio Hernandez Zorrilla, 23, who drowned in Santiago, 90 miles (145 kilometers) north of the capital.

Rainfall was expected to continue Monday evening. Rain showers frequently lead to evacuations in rural areas of the Caribbean country of 9.2 million, where drainage is poor and many build their homes in riverbeds and flood zones.

CRICKET WORLD CUP: Australia, West Indies open the Super 8s

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) _ The first World Cup in the Caribbean has been a good one so far for Brian Lara's West Indies lineup, who advanced to the second phase for the first time since 1996.

Now comes the real test. After wins over Pakistan, Ireland and Zimbabwe, the West Indies face defending champion Australia in the first of the Super 8s matches.

The Australians are unbeaten in their last 21 World Cup matches (20 wins, 1 tie) and are coming off an 83-run win over top-ranked South Africa in a high-scoring match at St. Kitts.

Ponting and his Australians are aiming to achieve something the great West Indies teams of the 1970s and early 80s narrowly failed to achieve: win three consecutive World Cups. The West Indies lost the 1983 final in an upset to India after winning the first two tournaments _ starting with a win over Australia in the 1975 final.

Tuesday's match against Australia would give the West Indies a real gauge of where they stand, Lara said.

Australia "are playing at their best, and I can tell from the way they are playing that they are here to make it a hat-trick of wins," Lara said. "They are very confident in their ability."

A win over Australia in the group stage of the Champions Trophy last October was a confidence boost for the West Indies, Lara said. And the venue for Tuesday's match _ the brand new Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua _ also helped the hosts.

Group winners Australia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand and West Indies all carry two points into the Super 8s, where each team plays six matches against the top two teams from the other three groups.