Archive for December 30th, 2011
Fugitive back in custody
(CNS): A suspect who escaped from police custody during a hospital visit in November has been re-arrested and is now back in the police cells. Twenty-one-year-old Charlton Ebanks, who has been on the run evading law enforcement officials for more than six weeks, was arrested yesterday evening, Thursday 29 December, following a police operation at the Treasure Island Resort on Seven Mile Beach. A police spokesperson said the fugitive was arrested on suspicion of burglary, escaping from police custody and in relation to outstanding warrants. Ebanks had managed to escape from his police guard at the Cayman Islands Hospital shortly after 7.00am on Thursday, 17 November.
A police spokesperson thanked the public and the media for the assistance provided to the police during the search for Ebanks.
JLP concedes defeat as PNP wins Jam election
(BBC): Jamaica's opposition People's National Party has won national elections, preliminary results show, after a campaign dominated by the economy. The results mean a return by PNP leader Portia Simpson Miller to the post of PM. The ruling JLP has conceded defeat. Meanwhile, PM Andrew Holness will become one of the country's shortest-serving PMs in history. The snap election was called earlier this month by Holness who succeeded Bruce Golding as leader in October. With almost all the results declared, Simpson Miller's party had gained well over the required 32 seats for a majority in parliament.
The 66-year-old veteran politician was first elected to parliament in 1976 and became Jamaica's first woman prime minister in 2006-07. She will face deep problems, with debt running at approximately 130% of GDP and unemployment at more than 12%.
There was no immediate of claim of victory from Simpson Miller, but PNP campaign spokesman Franklyn Delano said the results left no room for doubt.