International football star shot dead
[BBC] – Honduran international footballer Arnold Peralta has been shot dead while on holiday in his hometown.
He was killed in the car park of a shopping centre in La Ceiba, on the country’s Caribbean coast. The motive for the attack is unclear.
The 26-year-old midfielder for Olimpia, in the capital Tegucigalpa, played for Scottish giants Rangers until January.
Honduras is plagued by gang violence and has one of the highest murder rates in the world.
Peralta had complained about violence in his homeland in a tweet late last year.
He wrote: “How difficult it is for our country with so many criminals killing every so often, as though killing was in fashion! These types of people don’t deserve to be alive.”
“This is terrible,” his father Carlos told a news conference. “They killed my exemplary son. I can’t say more because of the pain I feel.”
His Honduras team-mate Boniek Garcia tweeted (in Spanish): “Rest in peace brother, God receive you in Heaven, you will stay in our hearts. Support and strength to the family.”
There will be a minute’s silence held before Rangers’ game against Morton on Saturday, Peralta’s former club said in a statement on its website.
“The players will also wear black armbands in his honour”, it added.
Officials from the public ministry told the local El Heraldo newspaper that Peralta had been hit by 18 bullets.
Residents claim pipe left broken for two months because of politics
[Jamaica Observer] – The residents told the Jamaica Observer that two pipes burst two months ago — one in a section of the community deemed to be a staunch supporter of the ruling People’s National Party (PNP) and in Mopen Lane, which is believed to be aligned to the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP).
According to the affected residents, Councillor Peter Davis (South Old Harbour Division) saw to it that the pipe in the PNP section of the area was repaired, while not doing the same for their section.
“We told him about it and he said he would deal with it. That hasn’t been done yet,” a resident told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday.
Parents angry over fondling incident at basic school
[Jamaica Observer] – THE principal of a St Catherine-based basic school has come in for harsh criticisms over her handling of a series of fondling incidents involving her young students.
Parents are accusing the principal, a woman, of not doing enough to stop the practise which they said is occurring too frequently at the school.
The latest incident took place last week where two four-year-old boys stripped and attempted to fondle a female peer. The Jamaica Observer understands that the three were playing with other students when they suddenly went “missing”. The three were later found in the bathroom, but not before the girl’s clothes was pulled off as the boys attempted to fondle her.
On Tuesday, the girl’s parents told the Observer that they only became aware of the disturbing incident after their daughter informed them days later. But the principal has insisted that she, too, was not aware of the incident.
“I hear some parents saying I took too long to report the matter, but it was a case where I was not aware of the matter,” the principal asserted. “Parents are looking to make the situation bigger than it really is; it’s not a big deal; it’s not like the child was raped,“ she said. But her comments have only served to further anger the parents.
“The principal has been unprofessional in how she dealt with the matter deal,” said the girl’s mother, who had threatened to report the incident to the Ministry of Education.
