Mexico arrests suspect over Tamaulipas mass graves
The Mexican navy says it has captured the main suspect in the murder of 145 people whose bodies were found in mass graves in the northern state of Tamaulipas earlier this month.
Omar Martin Estrada - known as El Kilo - is accused of being the local leader of the Zetas drug cartel in San Fernando, where the bodies were found.
A $1.2m (£735,000) reward had been offered for his arrest.
Most of the victims are thought to have been abducted from buses.
Mr Estrada is also accused of being involved in the murder of 72 Central and South American migrants whose bodies were found in the same area last year.
Five other suspects were also arrested.
Security forces had already arrested at least 16 suspected members of the Zetas in connection with the mass graves.
They have also been questioning 16 local police officers accused of protecting the criminals.
Most of the victims are thought to have been abducted from long-distance buses travelling north to the US border.
The motive for the murders is unclear, but there is speculation the cartel gunmen may have killed men who refused to join their ranks.
Missing
San Fernando near the US border is one of the deadliest spots in Mexico's drugs war, says the BBC's Julian Miglierini in Mexico City.
It is thought that the Zetas and their former allies, the Gulf cartel, have been fighting for control of the area because it is a route for smuggling drugs into the US, our correspondent adds.
Forensic scientists have been working to identify the bodies, some of which have been taken to Mexico City.
Hundreds of people whose relatives have gone missing have gone to see if they can identify their family members among the dead.
The Mexican government says around 35,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon began deploying troops to fight the cartels in December 2006.
More than 5,000 people have been reported missing, according to Mexico's human rights commission.
Bolivia protests challenge Evo Morales
Protesters in Bolivia have blocked main roads and clashed with police, on the ninth day of nationwide demonstrations against the government.
Police used tear gas to clear the main road south of La Paz, and protesters fought back with stones and slingshots.
Teachers and health workers are on strike to demand a 15% pay increase.
The unrest is the worst yet faced by President Evo Morales, who once led similar protests that forced two previous presidents from power.
There have also been street protests and road blockades in cities across Bolivia, including Cochabamba, Santa Cruz and Tarija.
The biggest clashes happened 45km south of La Paz, Bolivia's main city, where around 2,000 rural teachers used rocks to block the main road to the rest of the country.
Several people were reported injured as riot police moved in to reopen the road.
The protests are being led by Bolivia's main trade union federation, the COB, which is demanding a 15% pay rise for all workers.
The government has already approved a 10% increase for teachers, soldiers and police, and says it cannot afford any more.
"The president and government have always been prepared for dialogue with all sectors, and so the means of pressure they have adopted are not justified," Information Minister Ivan Canelas said.
The COB is demanding direct talks with President Morales rather than his ministers.
""The mobilisations will continue, there will be no truce," COB leader Pedro Montes told reporters.
Mr Morales has been visiting the southern city of Tarija, but pulled out of a public appearance there because of protests.
Bolivia's trade union movement was until recently a close ally of Mr Morales, and helped him win election in 2005 and 2009.
The left-wing Bolivian president is himself a trade union leader, and some of his ministers are former leaders of the COB.
But his popularity fell sharply last December when he attempted to cut fuel price subsidies, only to back down in the face of nationwide protests.
Since then, rising transport and food prices and shortages of some basic goods, such as sugar, have caused rising discontent.
Bolivia's last two presidents were forced from office by mass demonstrations and road blockades which Evo Morales helped to lead.
US resumes deportations to Haiti
Despite what has been described as a humanitarian crisis, the United States has started the second round of deportations to Haiti.
Immigration officials said that 19 Haitians, who had been convicted of crimes in the US, were sent back to the impoverished, French-speaking Caribbean country.
“US officials confirmed that they have received no assurances that the 19 individuals who were deported will be treated humanely upon their arrival in Haiti,” said the Washington-based Center for Constitutional Rights, a civil rights advocacy group, after a conference call with immigration officials.
Friday’s deportation was the second since the devastating January 12 earthquake in Haiti last year that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.
The US had halted deportations in the wake of the massive earthquake, but immigration officials announced in December that would resume deportations in January.
At least 27 Haitians were deported on January 20.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials said they plan to send 700 immigrants back to Haiti this year, ignoring the objections of human rights groups, which insist that the move is “equivalent to a death sentence.”
Barbara Gonzalez, an ICE spokeswoman, said those sent back were “criminal aliens,” who were convicted in US courts for various violations of the law. She said all have already served sentences in American prisons.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and a number of immigration advocacy groups have condemned the latest round of deportations, calling on the Obama Administration to immediately “halt all removals to Haiti and the release of all Haitians being held with final orders of removal.
“The United States has an obligation not to deport anyone to death,” said the groups, which comprise the University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic and Immigration Clinic, FANM/Haitian Women of Miami, Alternative Chance, and Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center.
“Our country must live up to its human rights commitments and immediately halt any and all deportations to Haiti,” they added. (CMC)
Britain Considers Equal Succession Rights to the Throne
The British government is considering changing laws of royal succession aimed at eliminating a “discriminatory” rule that gives priority to male descendants.
British officials said Saturday Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is in charge of constitutional reform, has already begun the process. It would require approval in Britain and in all other Commonwealth nations that recognize the British monarch as head of state.
Clegg has reportedly said the issue is more pressing with Prince William only two weeks away from marriage. William is second in line to inherit the throne, after his father, Prince Charles. But under current British law, if William and wife-to-be Kate Middleton have a son, he would be next in line to become king, even if the couple had a daughter first.
In other news, Prince William's younger brother, Prince Harry, has been promoted to captain after completing five years of service in the Army Air Corps.
Palace officials said Saturday the 26-year-old prince, who is third in line to the throne, is a search-and-rescue helicopter pilot with the Royal Air Force and will now be known as Captain Harry Wales. In 2007, he had served for 10 weeks in Afghanistan.
Harry will be best man at Prince William's wedding to Middleton on April 29 in London.
Gbagbo Camp Urges Supporters to End Ivory Coast Violence
The party of former Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo is calling on its supporters to lay down their arms.
The leader of Mr. Gbagbo's Ivorian Popular Front called on party loyalists Saturday to stop fighting. He said the war has ended following Mr. Gbagbo's arrest on Monday.
Mr. Gbagbo had refused to give up power after losing a November presidential election to President Alassane Ouattara. His refusal sparked a power struggle that the United Nations says killed hundreds of people and displaced more than a million others, including 135,000 who fled into neighboring Liberia.
In the past week, a sense of normalcy has begun to return to Ivory Coast's main city of Abidjan. Running water and electricity have been restored in many neighborhoods, and some shops and businesses have reopened their doors. However, food remains scarce and widespread looting is still taking place.
The Ouattara government says Mr. Gbagbo is under house arrest at a villa somewhere in Ivory Coast but has not said where. Judicial proceedings have been launched against Mr. Gbagbo, his wife and close associates.
President Ouattara has vowed to hold accountable all those who committed crimes during the post-election unrest.
Both pro-Gbagbo and pro-Ouattara forces have been accused of killing and raping civilians since the political crisis began last year.
Clinton in Seoul to Discuss North Korea Nuclear Program
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting Sunday with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak to discuss efforts to ratify a free trade agreement and to coordinate strategy regarding North Korea.
Clinton met Saturday with Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan in the capital, Seoul, and told him she is determined to get the long-delayed free trade agreement between the United States and South Korea ratified.
The deal was signed in 2007 but has yet to be ratified by the two countries' legislatures.
Clinton said the deal will move forward, saying the nations are in the “home stretch” of the agreement. She said there will be what she called “a positive outcome” that will benefit both countries.
The two also discussed ways to bring North Korea back to nuclear disarmament talks. Kim said he looks forward to working closely with the United States to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
The six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear programs have been on hold for more than two years. The talks involve the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia.
The U.S. and South Korea say the discussions cannot resume until North Korea shows it is sincere about honoring past promises to dismantle its nuclear programs.
Clinton travels Sunday to Japan to show U.S. support for that country as it recovers from last month's earthquake and tsunami as well as a crippled nuclear plant.
US House passes $6.2tn spending cut plan
The US House of Representatives has passed a 2012 budget plan which aims to cut $6.2 trillion (£3.8tn) in spending by the government over the next decade.
The plan, introduced by Republican Paul Ryan, would cut healthcare and social programmes for the poor and require the elderly to pay more for their healthcare than they do currently.
The bill passed the Republican-controlled House in a 235-193 vote.
The proposal is not expected to make it through the Democratic-led Senate.
The bill, which covers the fiscal year that starts on 1 October, would transform Medicare - a programme in which the US government pays medical bills for the elderly - into a voucher system that subsidises purchases of private insurance plans.
It would also lower taxes for the wealthy, a move fiscal conservatives say will boost US economic growth.
No Democrats in the House backed the bill on Friday; four Republicans also rejected the proposal.
On Thursday, the US Congress passed a budget bill that would cut $38.5bn (£23.6bn) in government spending over the rest of the current fiscal year, to 30 September.
President Barack Obama, who in a policy speech on Wednesday called for raising taxes on the wealthy as well as changes to social programmes, signed the bill into law on Friday.
Mr Obama has vowed to block major elements of Mr Ryan's $6.2tn spending bill, notably those dealing with healthcare costs for the elderly.
But the president said on Friday that a compromise with Republicans on spending cuts would be needed to get the necessary support in Congress to raise the US debt ceiling and avoid an economic crisis.
"I think he's absolutely right that it's not going to happen without some spending cuts," Mr Obama told the Associated Press news agency, referring to cuts backed by House Speaker John Boehner.
He added that the world could plunge into a new recession if the ceiling on money the US can borrow is not raised in the next few weeks, before the current debt limit of $14.3tn is reached.
Mr Obama urged immediate action, saying that the US should not get close to a deadline that would destabilise financial markets.
He said he was confident Congress would ultimately raise the limit, saying the latest lawmakers could possibly act is by early July.
But fiscal conservatives have said they will not vote to increase the debt cap without a significant move toward a long-term deficit reduction.
Lethal US spring storms move east to Carolinas
Three days of severe spring storms have left 21 people dead in the US south, with the Carolinas the latest states to take a battering as they move east.
Three deaths were reported in North Carolina. A tornado destroyed a church near Bonneau, in South Carolina, though six people caught inside were unharmed.
The entire Washington DC metropolitan area has been put under tornado watch.
While tornadoes formed in the south, much of the damage there was attributed to high winds.
The warning by the US National Weather Service for the Washington area also applies to counties in both Virginia and Maryland.
Trees and power lines have been felled by the storms which have torn roofs off houses and scattered tractor-trailers across roads.
Alabama and Arkansas each reported seven deaths, with two in Oklahoma, one in Mississippi and one in storm-related wildfires in Texas.
Details were not immediately available of the three deaths in North Carolina.
A mechanic at a tyre shop in the state capital, Raleigh, said he had taken shelter in his truck while co-workers squeezed into an interior room when the storm hit.
"It was one hell of a storm," Bryan Jackson told Reuters news agency.
"I started to see the roof vibrate and then the roof separated and it was gone."
The area south of Raleigh city centre was littered with snapped telephone poles, downed wires, broken glass and roofing debris.
TCI CLEANS UP FOR EARTH DAY
The Turks and Caicos Hotel and Tourism Association is organizing a “TCI Shines” campaign to clean up the island of Providenciales, in preparation for Earth Day.
On Saturday, April 16, starting at 6 a.m. anyone who cares about the environment is being asked to come out and help clean up the TCI.
Each year the organization of various hotels, restaurants and tour operators joins together with members of the community to collect debris from around the island of Providenciales in an effort to help make the country shine. Previous successes have seen hundreds of bags of garbage removed from the environment, helping to keep the TCI shining.
Everyone interested in helping is being asked to assemble at the Children’s Park in the Bight at 6 a.m. From there the different teams will caravan to assigned zones to begin the cleaning process at 6:30 a.m. At 10:30 a.m., volunteers should make their way back to the Bight Park for lunch and a brief presentation.
Volunteers should wear comfortable shoes (tennis shoes recommended, no sandals) cap/bandana, sunglasses, sunscreen and loose clothing because temperatures can reach the 80s.
Clean up zones will include all areas from the Bight Park through Grace Bay, as well as along the Leeward Highway and into Blue Hills.
Budget 2011/2012 presented in the TCI
The interim government of the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has produced its 2011/12 Budget, which includes major adjustments to the tax system, designed to pave the way to a successful implementation of a value-added tax in 2013.
Presented by Delton Jones, Permanent Secretary for Finance, on April 5, the Budget statement was due to have been delivered to the Consultative Forum on the same day. However, the Forum was cancelled the previous day due to the refusal of several members to attend, those members citing a lack of preparedness, having received Budget booklets only days earlier.
The statement was, nonetheless, published, and proposes a serious overhaul of the TCI's tax regime, as the country struggles to deal with its continuing financial crisis. According to Jones "Our aim is to restore and firmly embed the principles of sound financial management, sustainable development and good governance".
With a significant budget deficit and high levels of debt placing pressures on the economy, Jones said that, without the help it has received from the UK, the TCI would be bankrupt. The previous administration had failed to pay many of its creditors, damaging local businesses, yet also offered tax concessions at what Jones called an unsustainable rate.
Despite these difficulties, Jones stressed that the financial support provided by the UK has given the country the time it needs to tackle the crisis, and he regards this as a one-off opportunity to take the necessary measures to bring revenue and spending into line. "We have no alternative other than to balance TCIG's budget by raising revenues and cutting spending: like any household or business, the public sector cannot continue to live beyond its means".
Jones also provided a brief history of TCI's economic troubles, citing heavily the deficiencies in the country's tax system. While the economy doubled in size between 2002 and 2008, its growth was neither balanced nor sustainable.
Public sector spending increased threefold, outstripping revenue growth. Most problematically, the tax system was incapable of generating the sufficient recurring revenues required to fund such high levels of public spending. This problem was compounded by the fact that an already narrow tax base was systematically eroded through the grant of generous exemptions and concessions, and by poor administration, collection and enforcement, he said. Statistics show that tax revenues fell to 16% of GDP in 2010, from a peak of 24% in 2006. The government's priority is now to effect modernization of the system, improve the efficiency of collection, expand the tax base and increase revenues.
With this goal in mind, the government proposes a new, reformed tax system for the medium-term, the cornerstone of which is to be the introduction of value-added tax (VAT). It is felt that the imposition of VAT will provide the stable source of revenue the country so desperately requires, eradicate many of the system's distortions, boost the economy and ease the country's fiscal position. Although not specified in the Budget, it is widely expected to sit at a headline rate of 10% when introduced in 2013/14. However, given the existing deficiencies present in the tax system and the high levels of preparation required to ensure a smooth transition to the new regime, the government is also to implement a succession of temporary measures designed to pave the way to 2013/14.
The initiatives are as follows:
The introduction of an immediate 4% Customs Processing Fee, to be levied on all imported goods and importers, and expected to raise USD12m in 2011/12;
A series of changes are to be made to the system of work permit fees, which the government says have not been increased since 2001, and are complex and can lead to error and manipulation. The government is investigating a possible move to a percentage-based fee system, but, at the present juncture, proposes to radically simplify the employment categories under which permits are issued, and raise fees by September 1, 2011, increasing revenues USD5.2m this year alone;
Responsibility for business licensing is to transfer to TCInvest from July 1, 2011, with fees having been increased by an average of 35% from April 1, 2011;
A new carbon tax on electricity generators will apply by September 1, 2011, and raise an estimated USD1.6m in 2011/12, and USD3.4m in 2012/13;
A water sales tax on commercial customers and large residential customers will come into force by September 1, 2011, generating USD0.7m in 2011/12, and USD1.4m in 2012/13;
A 10% bank tax on non interest-bearing services provided by banks will have effect by September 1, 2011, replacing money transfer fees and stamp duty, and raise USD2.7m in 2011/12; and
A 2.5% insurance tax on gross premiums for general insurance (excluding life and health premiums) will apply by September 1, 2011, and provide USD5.7m in 2011/12.
TCI will not see the introduction of either a property or an income tax, the government has clarified.
It is expected that these measures should, by April 2013, allow for the introduction of VAT, and thus be followed by a drastic simplification of the tax system, which will include the reversal of many of the temporary measures outlined above, and of accommodation, telecommunication and vehicle hire taxes.