(CNS):  A 25-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman were taken into custody by police Tuesday in connection with the robbery at the Tortuga Bakery and Liquor Store on North Sound Road at the weekend, after they when they were stopped in George Town in a car suspected of being used in the daylight heist. A police spokesperson said that at around 1pm yesterday (11 June), officers of the RCIPS stopped a white Ford Ranger along North Church Street George Town. The two occupants of the vehicle were arrested on suspicion of robbery and are currently in custody assisting with the enquiry. The vehicle was seized as part of the investigation.

(CNS):  The eleven criminal charges that have been filed against the former premier and leader of the United Democratic Party, McKeeva Bush, may be consolidated, officials said Tuesday. With mounting rumours that the charges relating to theft and corruption offences had been dropped, a police spokesperson stated that the prosecution was on-going. Bush, who is now the leader of the opposition, is expected in court on Friday 28 June, when he will answer charges that include allegations that he used a government credit card to unlawfully withdraw thousands of dollars in cash from ATMs in US casinos while travelling for business and pleasure. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): A 35-year-old man from George Town was found guilty Tuesday of a number of offences, including the unlawful possession and use of a firearm and assault. However, he escaped the most serious of the charge against him of attempted murder when the presiding judge said she was unconvinced that the crown had proved Leighton Griffin Rankine Jr had intended to kill anyone. Rankine was charged with trying to kill two men in the car park of a West Bay Road nightclub in February last year after a major altercation, when he opened fire with a handgun. During the trial police officers who were called to the scene said Rankine had the weapon in his hand when they arrived and one man had been shot.

(CNS Business): The Cayman Islands government will be seeking to ensure that the latest OECD initiative surrounding the exchange of financial information is fair and equitable among all countries, onshore or offshore, when they attend the pre-G8 meeting this weekend. Wayne Panton, the new financial services minister, said Cayman’s commitment to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters was another step in its long history of compliance with international standards and it will not have any adverse impacts on the local financial services sector provided there is a level playing field around the world for information exchange to maintain the jurisdiction’s competitive edge. Read more on this and other stories on CNS Business

(CNS): Despite the hefty fuel bills that consumers on Grand Cayman already face due to duty and high oil prices, the local Electricity Regulatory Authority (ERA) has approved an increase in the basic rate CUC charges customers, which will take effect this month. The ERA confirmed that it has approved an application made by the monopoly electricity supplier in April to increase the rate by 1.8%, further squeezing hard hit consumers. The ERA board said the increase applies only to the CUC base rate, which is being increased from 10.46 to 10.65 cents CI per kWh. This rate equates to about one third of the typical monthly CUC bill, the board noted, so the increase will translate to around 0.5% of a total bill.

(CNS): Following a two and half year campaign to prevent government from relocating Grand Cayman’s landfill to Bodden Town on land owned by the Dart Group, local activists claimed victory Monday following the comments made by the minister for environmental health last week. Speaking at a press briefing, Osbourne Bodden, the district representative and new minister with responsibility for the landfill, confirmed that it was not moving. Celebrating the hard fought victory, the Coalition to Keep Bodden Town Dump Free said the victory showed that the people can stand up and fight to protect their interests against unpopular government decisions. 

(CNS): As a Cayman delegation heads off to the UK tomorrow at the invitation of the UK prime minister, the local government representatives will also be meeting with the FCO’s overseas territories minister, Mark Simmonds, on Thursday to discuss Cayman’s budget situation. Premier Alden McLaughlin is keen to negotiate some leeway for the CIG and said Friday that “austerity doesn’t work”, referring to the fact that an economy cannot grow without some means of stimulus, as is evident from the failure of any of Europe’s economies to rebound. McLaughlin has said previously that Simmonds is open to negotiation and, as the new government begins to prepare the budget for the 2013-14 fiscal year, the premier said he did not want to further burden the tax payer with more fees or make dramatic cuts.

(CNS): From the threat of job losses and the need to increase the retirement age, civil servants met to discuss a host of issues facing government employees last month. In the wake of the election, the body which represents the bulk of 5000 plus government and statutory authority workers raised a number of concerns it has that are affecting its membership. James Watler, president of the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association, and its management council held the meeting to invite suggestions over staff reductions, health and pension benefits, retirement age, membership grievances and the image of the civil service among other issues.

(CNS): Following a rush hour collision on Friday evening, a motorcyclist was taken to hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries. The crash happened at around 5:10pm on 7 June near the junction of Shedden Road and North Sound Road, George Town. Police are now looking for witnesses to the smash, which involved a motorcycle and a motor vehicle. The rider of the motorcycle was taken to the George Town Hospital where, despite the severity of the crash, he was treated and released. The driver of the motor car received no injuries at all.

(CNS): A 27-year-old West Bay man who was scheduled to begin his trial in Grand Court this week for the murder of Robert Mackford Bush (28) during a gang related killing spree in September 2011 will now have to wait until March 2014 before he has his day in court. Brian Borden has denied being one of two masked gunmen who opened fire on Bush, but due to issues relating to the crown's key witness, his chance to defend himself has been postponed for the second time. Borden was arrested in August last year based on the evidence of one man. His lawyer told the court last week that he believed it would be impossible to go through with the trial because of an on-going police investigation into the witness.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands government announced on Friday evening that it would commit to the Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters, further pushing out the boundaries of transparency in the offshore sector. After considerable pressure from the UK government in particular and in the face of growing international pressure for openness, transparency and automatic exchange of information between countries in connection with tax matters and beneficial ownership, Cayman is one of the first overseas territories to follow the crown dependencies in its decision to truly lift the lid on the offshore financial world.

(CNS) Updated: Police are currently seeking witnesses to an armed robbery which took place in broad daylight on Saturday morning. An RCIPS spokesperson said that at around 10:14 officers were called to the Tortuga Liquor Store on North Sound Road, George Town, where the daylight heist took place and where an undisclosed quantity of cash was stolen. Police said that no shots were fired and no one was injured in the incident. The perpetrator, who was reportedly armed with a handgun, was described as having dark skin, a slim build and around 6'2" to 6'3" tall, wearing a dark coloured jacket with a hoodie, blue jeans and dark coloured shoes.

(CNS): Addressing civil service concerns that the axe may be falling on their headcount, the new premier has reassured government workers that his administration will not be laying people off. Although Alden McLaughlin said the new government was committed to and had campaigned on cutting operating expenses, it will not be at the expense of people. Appearing as a guest Friday on Radio Cayman’s Talk Today show, he said the Progressives' plan does not involve firing civil servants or cutting their salaries. He said morale was not very high after salaries were cut under the previous leadership, despite its failure to restrain ministerial spending.

(CNS): The new tourism minister has committed to ensuring that both the cruise port facility and the redevelopment of the airport will happen under his watch and will follow process. Moses Kirkconnell said there were some major challenges facing the tourism industry but the Progressives would bring “an holistic approach” to the sector, noting that tourism is everybody's business. He pointed to the need to develop a cruise facility in George Town, which would be the piers only and no upland development as the government wanted to rebuild George Town. The new minister committed to getting the airport redevelopment underway as well. (Photo Dennie Warren Jr)

(CNS): A 35-year-old George Town man charged with robbery and various other crimes in connection with a jewellery heist during the Christmas holidays of 2011 began his trial Tuesday before a six man, one woman jury panel. The robbery took place at 11:20am on 22 December during broad daylight in downtown George Town when the capital was packed with cruise ship visitors and shoppers. The crown alleges that Julio Newball and two other armed but unknown accomplices entered the store with an axe and proceeded to smash into display cases positioned to the front of the store in Cardinal Avenue and made off with a selection of valuable jewellery.