The government of Dominica says it is seeking to abolish the 15% and 20% income tax bands as early as the next fiscal year. This was announced by Dominica's PM and Minister for Finance Roosevelt Skerrit, during his budget presentation on Thursday.
 
According to the Prime Minister, this is in an effort to simplify the country's tax system, with only one rate of income tax.

Mr Skerrit also disclosed, that by January 2018, the minimum income tax threshold will be increased from $25,000 per annum to $30,000

​PM & Minister for Finance Roosevelt Skerrit .

​Minister for Social Service Lady Catherine Daniel says a review of the Yes We Care Program is on the cards.
 
The Social Services Minister says the review will enable the program to expand its reach and target more of the elderly in need if care.

​Minister for Social Services Catherine Daniel 

Parliamentary Representative for Petite Savanne, Dr. Kenneth Darroux says the Petite Savanne Resettlement Project at Bellevue Chopin is well underway.
 
The community of Petite Savanne had to be relocated after Tropical Storm Erika in 2O15.
 
A modern community is now being developed to accommodate the affected residents of Petite Savanne.

Parliamentary Representative for Petite Savanne, Dr. Kenneth Darroux.

Acting Director of the Drug Prevention Unit, Martha Jarvis, says the unit has noted an increase in Marijuana use among young people.
 
Marijuana is still considered illegal in Dominica and Jarvis says that the open use of the drug is alarming.
 
She says the increase in marijuana smokers is a major cause for concern.

Acting Director of the Drug Prevention Unit, Martha Jarvis.

​Ag Director of Primary Health Care, Dr Phillip St Jean, says Dominica needs to make Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) prevention and management a top health priority. Currently NCDs rank among the top 5 causes of death in Dominica.
 
Speaking at a Stakeholder Consultation Final Validation Meeting on NCD Policy and Plan this week, Dr St Jean said the approach towards NCD management has become more complex.

​Ag Director of Primary Health Care Dr Phillip St Jean
 
Meantime, PAHO NCD Advisor Dr Tomo Kanda says by 2025, the Pan American Health Organization CPAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO), wants to see a considerable drop in premature mortality, globally.

PAHO NCD Advisor Dr Tomo Kanda.

​Government says it has established an Airport Development fund as plans progress for the development of an international airport in Dominica.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says this fund was established in May 2017 with an initial start-up of US$10M from the Citizenship By Investment Program.
The Prime Minister made this announcement as he presented the 2017/2018 national budget Thursday.
He stated further that Government will meet with officials of the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA) next week as discussions on the construction for this airport continue.

Government plans to reduce the cost of electricity on island is moving closer to becoming a reality as construction of  the 7 megawatt power plant progresses.
PM Roosevelt Skerrit told parliament on Thursday, all funds required has been secured to construct the plant.

Meanwhile PM Skerrit says work is ongoing on the environmental and social impact in the Roseau Valley and he assures residents that every effort will made to ensure that adverse impacts are mitigated.

He says designs of the plant are expected to be completed this year and once commissioned, the Dominica Geothermal Development Committee (DGDC) will sell power to DOMLEC.

​President of Dominica, His Excellency Charles Savarin, is accusing the media of “deliberately” publishing propaganda under the guise of real news.
Speaking at the opening of Parliament yesterday, the President described “fake news” as a “dangerous journalistic virus” which has the ability to obstruct the country’s progress.

​He added, the negativity surrounding this fake news has denied and discounted the advances Dominica has made as a small independent island state. 

​Opposition Leader, Lennox Linton, says the conviction of Former Dominican Diplomat, NG Lap Seng, show that his concerns expressed about the former diplomat were legitimate.
NG Lap Seng, a billionaire real estate developer from Macau, has been convicted of paying more than a million dollars in bribes to top officials from the United Nations. A federal court in New York found him guilty on Thursday following a month long trial.
Speaking on Q95's Hotseat Friday, Linton says it is for these reasons the UWP continues to call on the Foreign Affairs minister to disclose the names of all persons who are not parliamentarians but hold Dominica's diplomatic passports.

​The Inter American Press Association (IAPA) has strongly rejected the regulation of the practice of journalism as occurs in Cuba, where a female journalist and her colleague are under house arrest and facing charges for practicing the profession.

In Cuba, journalist Sol García Basulto, of the Camagüey magazine La Hora de Cuba and correspondent in that city of the news website 14ymedio, has been under house arrest since Monday. She was summoned on July 24 by local police for reporting on "developments" regarding her accusation of alleged "encroachment of legal capacity" imposed in March this year, for "carrying out interviews on the street, and publishing them in the magazine."
 
The agent in charge of her case warned her to hire a lawyer and declared – in response to a question from her – that Henry Constantín Ferreiro, editor of La Hora de Cuba, would be later notified about the proceedings.