(CNS): The chairman of Cayman Finance, Anthony Travers, has dismissed the recent report by Sir Michael Foot, suggesting it is of little consequence. Pointing out the omission of any reference to the most recent FATF report regarding Cayman, Travers also suggests Foot's report is too general and there is little that Cayman need do in response. Foot’s review of the UK’s offshore financial centres, which was published on Wednesday, makes a number of recommendations for all the territories and also raises specific concerns about economic mismanagement in Cayman and the problem of a limited tax base both here and in other territories.   

(CNS): The police are offering a $5000 reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of Dainian Cecil Henry on top of the Crimestoppers usual US$1000. With a CI$5,800 price tag on his head, the man who escaped from police custody is fast becoming Cayman’s “most wanted”.  The RCIPS is advising the public to report any sightings of this individual immediately to the police but strongly advise them not to approach him directly. Henry, who is wanted in connection with firearm’s offences, escaped from custody at George Town police station on Sunday  25 October.

(CNS): Three men, who were heavily masked and dressed in dark camouflage clothes, pumped an indiscriminate number of shots into the car which was being driven by Fabian Reid on the night he was killed. Speaking to News 27 in an exclusive interview, lead investigator, Superintendent Marlon Bodden, said several shell casings were left at the scene, reflecting a targeted shooting. Reid was shot three times while reversing the car and his female passenger was also shot in the leg during the incident on 13 October in North Sound Estates.

(CNS): The leader of government business has hit out at one of the Cayman Islands’ leading financial associations. Speaking in the Legislative Assembly on Thursday morning, McKeeva Bush accused the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) of playing politics with their criticisms of the government’s budget and fee increases. Bush said the organisation was “causing a racket”, which he believed came from the heart of the opposition. With what he said was wide consultation over the fee increases, for the group to now come out with their criticisms was nothing more than politics.

(CNS): After what he described as a very frustrating first half term as the education minister, Rolston Anglin says that his attention is now back on the issues relating to teachers and PTAs. Since taking up office after the election Anglin has focused almost exclusively on the school development projects and the budget but is now turning his attention to the process of addressing what is happening in the schools and preparing the regulations that will underscore the Education Modernisation Law that was passed in March of this year.

(CNS): A group of shark hunters and a group of scientists seeking to explore the earliest life forms on the planet are converging in Cayman this week as the islands’ ocean becomes the focus of important marine explorations. The shark hunters will be working with the Department of Environment (DoE) to carry out surveys of the local shark, whale and dolphin populations. Meanwhile, WHOI and NASA scientists will be plunging a submarine into the depths of the Mid-Cayman Rise to explore the earliest of the ocean’s life forms.

(CNS): Tax policies around the world have inadvertently fuelled the global financial crisis by encouraging companies to use debt rather than equity, ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) has claimed in a policy paper called Competition or Co-ordination: Reassessing Tax in a Global Environment. The industry body says that the inconsistencies in tax systems need to be ironed out, that G20 nations should be focusing on addressing their own tax problems before those of tax havens, and national sovereignty in tax policy should be respected.

(CNS): Alcohol appears to be the only items stolen from a residence on Old Robin Road, North Side. The burglary was discovered yesterday morning (28 October) around 7:00am by the caretaker of the premises, who found a rear glass door slightly open and a screw driver lying nearby. An officer from Bodden Town Police Station attended the scene and recovered the screw driver for evidence. Once inside the home is was discovered that a bottle of spirits and some beer had been taken. The matter is under investigation.

(CNS): The Cayman Islands and the UK’s other overseas territories, as well as the crown dependencies, are being told to widen their tax base in the long awaited report by Sir Michael Foot. But the UK financial expert also takes the Cayman Islands to task for undertaking capital projects during the economic crisis and says the islands' government must improve its economic management. In his review, which was commissioned by the Treasury, Foot says the territories must take greater responsibility for their economies and raise new taxes if they are to survive the economic crisis.

(CNS): Mounting speculation that the Dart Group has been awarded the contract to build the new George Town cruise berthing facility could not be confirmed on Wednesday when the promised announcement at the FCCA conference in St. Lucia failed to materialize. Port Authority Chairman Stefan Baraud said he was unable to say who would be constructing Cayman’s most talked about development as he had been told that Cabinet had not yet made a decision and that the announcement would now be made next week.

(CNS): News from the United States that the proposals for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act will not include the damaging features of Senator Levin’s Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, which would have relied on “lists” and other provisions that could have discouraged lawful business in Cayman, have been welcomed by the islands’ financial sector. Cayman Finance said today that the latest proposals plan to tackle offshore tax abuse through increased transparency and enhanced reporting requirements, which is consistent with the message that it was promoting in the US over the last few months.

(CNS): Cruise tourism revenue in Cayman is growing, according to a report commissioned by an industry body, despite a decline in visitor numbers. The latest Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association report reveals that the cruise sector appears to be doing much better, with passengers spending more in the destinations they visit. The findings suggest that cruise tourism generated a total of US$174.4 million in the Cayman Islands during the 2008/2009cruise year (May08-April 09). It also reveals that the time passengers spent ashore was also relatively high, even when compared to destinations with berthing facilities.

(CNS): A man on the run from the RCIPS, Dainian Cecil Henry, was at one time a prime suspect in the slaying of  a Turks and Caicos police officer but was later eliminated from from the suspect list, police sources have told CNS. Henry made headlines Monday when he escaped from police custody at the George Town Police Station. A “Wanted” poster released by the Turks and Caicos Crime Stoppers in January 2005 shows that he was at the time on the run in that country and considered armed and dangerous but it was later determined that he was in Jamaica at the time of the murder. (Left: wanted in T&K in 2005)

(CNS): The new police commissioner has said that he wants to increase the current police numbers in the Cayman Islands by around 50 officers. Facing what he called several skill gaps, with a need for more community and neighbourhood police officers, as well as the development of a task force, David Baines says he will be looking overseas to recruit at least half of these officers, including the US where he is hoping to attract specialists such as former FBI agents or other highly trained law enforcement officers.

(CNS): An 11-foot pygmy sperm whale reportedly washed ashore near the Spotts Dock yesterday morning. The rare sea mammal washed up near the private property of Eldon and Patricia Kirkconnell around 11am on Tuesday morning (27 October). Kirkconnell told News 27 that, on seeing the beached whale, he called the Department of Environment.  Pigmy sperm whales are said to be very rare and not much is known about them. News 27 said that when it sent crews out to the location the whale was gone. The DoE said it suspects the whale may have been pulled back out to sea.