Khalid Wasi, spokesman for the new political grouping, the All Bermuda Congress has welcomed Opposition leader Wayne Furbert?s pledge to include a PLP member in his cabinet if he wins the next election.

But Mr. Wasi said the offer didn?t go far enough as it was still down to patronage which could end if Mr. Furbert was deposed.

He said power sharing between the parties should be mandatory.

Mr. Wasi said support for the ABC venture had been ?so huge it was virtually overwhelming? but he said its ?hundreds and hundreds of supporters? were keen to stay in the background as the party formulated ideas designed to create an egalitarian movement.

New security measures at Bermuda?s General Post Office now require people to have a swipe card if they intend to gain entrance to the premises. People will only be able to gain access to the mailboxes, ATM machine and public payphones by using a swipe card with a magnetic strip.

In 2005, many post box owners complained that vagrants were using the area as a bedroom, bathroom and living room. Many people also complained that illegal activity such as drug use was taking place. Postmaster General George Outerbridge sent out a questionnaire to post box owners in October asking if they wanted something to be done to stop illegal activities and what they suggested would be the best way to avoid the current situation.

The responses pointed to locking the doors between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. daily and requiring a swipe card to gain access.

People will not be issued specific Post Office swipe cards as any card with a magnetic strip will open the doors.

A Christmas card which made a detour of more than 3,000 miles to Bermuda has finally reached its true destination ? 20 miles away from where it was posted.

Michelle Saunders, of Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, sent the festive greeting to her friend Brenda Banks back in December. But instead of arriving at Mrs. Banks? home in nearby Burntwood, bungling postal workers sent the card across the Atlantic to Bermuda, some 3,400 miles away.

The missive eventually reached Mrs. Banks last week ? featuring a huge red stamp and the words ?mis-sent to Bermuda?.

?The first-class stamp on the front says it was posted on December 18,? said Mrs. Banks. ?I know post can mistakenly get sent to the wrong address, but this is ridiculous. We haven?t stopped joking about it all week.?

A spokesman for the Royal Mail in the UK said: ?We apologise for sending her Christmas card so far afield. It was just human error and we are very sorry for any inconvenience caused.?

A cell phone, a phone charger and $100 were stolen during a break-in at a home on Rec-View Hill, Devonshire, on Tuesday. The burglary is believed to have happened between 7.45 a.m. and 5 p.m. The phone was a black and silver Motorola which flips open and the charger was a Nokia. Anyone with information about the burglary should call into their nearest Police station or telephone 295-0011.

The site of a former Trimingham?s Brothers Ltd. shop in Paget will be turned into an office, should a Planning application be successful. Bermuda Trust Company Ltd. and the Trustees of Mainsail Trust have sought final Planning approval to convert a former Trimingham?s (BDA Railway Co) shop at No. 90, South Shore Road from retail space to office space.

?The intent is for the office to serve a staff of approximately 15 to 20 accounting, marketing and software workers, five days per week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.? Harold Conyers of agents Conyers & Associates told the Department of Planning on January 5.

Mr. Conyers also told Planning the building had parking spaces on an adjacent lot for 14 cars and seven cycles.

Mr. Conyers refused to be pressed further when contacted this week.

A burglar stole $34 worth of coins after breaking into a business in Gorham Road, Pembroke, earlier this week. The break-in is believed to have happened between 5.30 p.m. on Monday and 8.35 a.m. on Tuesday. Police are appealing for information. Call 295-0011 or call into the nearest Police station.

Gibbons Management Services Ltd. still needs to finalise a land deal with Government surrounding an impending one-way system at Collector?s Hill.

?We are still looking at ways to come to an amicable agreement,? Gibbon?s real estate manager Stuart Innes said this week. ?I don?t think there will be any problems in the long run. Just a final decision on the best way to decide the way to go.?

On January 18, he said he expected a decision about whether a property behind the A1 Grocery, on South Shore Road, Smith?s would be leased, sold or rented on January 22.

However, this week he told , no decision had been reached. ?We need to come to a decision by the end of the week or Government will go ahead with a compulsory purchase order,? Mr. Innes said.

Police are questioning a 48-year-old man suspected of breaking into a business in Burnaby Street, City of Hamilton, in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Officers attended the alleged break-in at 1.30 a.m. after a woman reported seeing a man walk out of the front entrance of the premises. A search was carried out and a man, of no fixed abode, was found in Reid Street, arrested and taken to Hamilton Police Station. Anyone with information about the incident should call Police on 295-0011.