FRENCH GUIANA: Strike at French Guiana rocket site postpones launches of 2 communication satellites
KOUROU, French Guiana (AP) _ A strike has postponed the launch of two communication satellites from the South American country of French Guiana.
European satellite company SES says in a statement that the walkout by the Trade Union of French Guiana Workers prevented Tuesday’s launch of the SES-2 satellite. It is meant to replace the AMC-3 satellite that provides communication services to a variety of global customers.
Arianespace also had been scheduled to launch the Arabsat-5C telecommunications satellite Tuesday. Arianespace is the commercial arm of the 13-country European Space Agency.
A new launch date has not been announced.
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JAMAICA: Top security officials travel to Honduras to discuss illegal fishing, smuggling
KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) _ Jamaica’s top security officials are meeting with their counterparts in Honduras to discuss ways of battling illegal fishing and the smuggling of weapons and drugs.
A Jamaican government statement issued Tuesday says matters to be discussed include illegal fishing in Jamaica’s economic exclusion zone.
Earlier this year, Honduras’ navy commander accused the Jamaican coast guard of using excessive force trying to stop a Honduran boat in lobster- and conch-rich waters of Jamaica’s Pedro Cays. The boat’s captain was fatally shot and two crewmen were wounded.
It was just the latest of numerous flare-ups between Jamaican marine patrols and Honduran boats in recent years.
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GUYANA: Swarm of aggressive Africanized bees kills mechanic in his home
GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) _ Authorities say aggressive Africanized bees have killed a 49-year-old mechanic in Guyana.
Imram Hassan was attacked late Monday by a large swarm of what after often called killer bees.
The bees swarmed inside Hassan’s home in Eccles in central Guyana. The agriculture ministry said in a Tuesday statement that the bees had a hive in a derelict building nearby.
The ministry has sent a team of beekeepers and exterminators to the area to capture the bees and destroy the hive.
Africanized bees were first brought to Brazil from South Africa in the late 1950s for a crossbreeding program and some were accidentally were let loose. In Guyana, the insects are commonly referred to as Brazilian bees.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Police say man kills self, family by setting house on fire
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) _ Authorities in the Dominican Republic say a man locked himself and his family inside their house, then set it on fire, killing all five people.
Prosecutor Gendris Ramirez says neighbors told police they saw 28-year-old Romelio Frias douse the house with gasoline before dawn Tuesday. The victims include his 36-year-old wife, their 3-year-old daughter and 9-year-old twin boys that she had from a previous marriage.
The fire occurred in the community of Veron, just east of the capital of Santo Domingo.
