A package of news briefs from the Caribbean

CARIBBEAN: Dominican Republic: At least 20 killed in Tropical Storm Noel

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Tropical Storm Noel lashed the Dominican Republic with heavy rains on Monday, causing flooding and mudslides that killed at least 20 people and left another 20 missing, officials said.

Noel was expected to dump up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain on the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which share the island of Hispaniola, as it heads northwest toward the Bahamas.

Forecasters said the storm would likely veer away from the United States, but noted that a tropical storm watch, which means tropical storm conditions are possible within 36 hours, may be issued for southeastern Florida later Monday.

The spinning storm had been forecast to hit Haiti hardest, but then veered toward the Dominican Republic, apparently catching residents offguard.

"We didn't know that it was going to be like this, it took us by surprise," Guarionex Rosado said as he left his home in La Cienaga, one of Santo Domingo's most affected neighborhoods.

Noel temporarily knocked out the Dominican Republic's entire power system early Monday, plunging 9.4 million people into dark for about two hours, said Radhames Segura, vice president of the state-owned electric company.

At least 10 people went missing when the Maimon River overflowed and a sent a torrent of muddy water rushing through the town of Piedra Blanca.

Manuel Antonio Luna Paulino, president of the Dominican Republic's National Emergency Commission, said at least 20 people had died and another 20 were reported missing.

JAMAICA: Pathologist defends ruling that cricket coach was victim of foul play

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — The Jamaican government pathologist who performed an autopsy on Bob Woolmer defended his ruling that the Pakistan cricket coach had died as the result of foul play in a testy exchange Monday with an attorney for the sport's governing body.

Under questioning by an International Cricket Council lawyer, Dr. Ere Sheshiah reiterated his conclusion that the 58-year-old coach had died of asphyxia and pesticide poisoning and said he did not consider other rulings valid.

"I am not deviating from my findings," the visibly flustered pathologist told ICC attorney Jermaine Spence. "I have already told the court of my opinion."

Sheshiah, who has testified that the 58-year-old coach was poisoned by the pesticide cypermethrin, said he could not definitely conclude how much of the chemical was in Woolmer's body, but claimed it was enough to be fatal.

During the inquest last week, a Jamaican laboratory worker who analyzed Woolmer's toxicology tests said one sample revealed low levels of the pesticide in his system, but another showed no sign of the potentially lethal chemical.

Woolmer was found unconscious in his Kingston hotel room March 18, a day after his powerhouse team suffered a humiliating loss that eliminated it from the Cricket World Cup. He died at a hospital shortly afterward.

Days later, Sheshiah ruled he had been strangled.

Three foreign doctors have testified that the 65-year-old Sheshiah misinterpreted his own findings and said his medical techniques did not meet international standards.

PUERTO RICO: Archaeologists accuse U.S. Army Corps of taking artifacts without permission

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rican archaeologists on Monday accused the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of illegally shipping two dozen newly discovered pre-Columbian artifacts off the island without permission.

Diana Lopez, a University of Puerto Rico archaeologist, said the Army Corps should be fined for sending ceramic pieces, stone tools and bones, which may date from 600 A.D. to 1500 A.D., to Atlanta for testing without approval from a local archaeology council.

"They never told us that they were going to take those pieces," said Miguel Rodriguez, a member of the council who claimed such tests could have been done on the island.

Jose Rosado, chief of the corps' San Juan construction office, has promised that engineers will return the pieces to Puerto Rico once tests determine their origin and value. Calls and e-mails to his office went unanswered Monday.

The artifacts were discovered earlier this month when an Army Corps team began work on a dam project in southern Puerto Rico. Archaeologists said the find could shed light on most aspects of Indian life in the region, from sacred rituals to eating habits.

They called for a halt to the corps' heavy digging, which they warned could expose the pre-Colombian site to wind and rain.

JAMAICA: Beenie Man faces tax evasion charges

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — A Jamaican judge released dancehall singer Beenie Man on US$21,100 (euro14,662) bail Monday after the Grammy-winning musician appeared in a Kingston court on tax evasion charges.

Jamaican authorities say the reggae star, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davis, owes roughly US$661,090 (euro459,377) in overdue taxes in his Caribbean homeland. He is due back in court Dec. 3.

The 34-year-old Kingston native has been one of the biggest names in dancehall for more than a decade. In 1998, he broke into U.S. charts with the hit single "Who Am I" and accompanying album "Many Moods of Moses," which became a minor hit in the U.S.

In 2001, he won a Grammy for his album "Art and Life."

Recently, Beenie Man and other popular Jamaican dancehall acts have come under pressure from gay rights groups in Britain and the U.S. who say some of their songs promote violence against homosexuals.

BERMUDA: Former Fed chief sees US home prices continuing to fall until inventory shrinks

SOUTHAMPTON, Bermuda (AP) — Alan Greenspan issued bearish comments about the U.S. housing industry Monday, saying that "prices of homes will continue to go down" until housing inventory starts to shrink.

The former Federal Reserve Board chairman, speaking at an investment conference in Bermuda, said "we're nowhere near" the point where inventories of new homes are set to drop, noting that home builders continue to discount new homes and add other inducements in a bid to cut their inventory.

"We've got a way to go, and I'm not sure where that leaves" the housing industry in the next year, he said.

On a more upbeat note, Greenspan said that while the recent surge in oil prices is clearly having a "significant impact" on the economy, it is also "forcing us to break our addiction to oil" at a time when the world is nearing a point at which it will become harder to extract oil around the globe.

He suggested that the argument that high oil prices are helping restrain global economies, potentially keeping inflation under wraps, "is not an altogether crazy" thesis.

Repeating other recent comments, Greenspan said the odds of a recession are less than 50 percent, but higher than they were earlier this year.