Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister, Patrick Manning, has met with a high level team of officials from Sunway Construction (Caribbean) Limited for discussions over the company's involvement in a multi-million dollar development construction programme for the country.
Sunway's executives are in Trinidad and Tobago to oversee the start up of operations at a quarry set up by Sunway Construction in partnership with the government.
In July of 2007 Prime Manning held discussions with the Sunway Group on a variety of issues including quarrying, a construction academy, and participation in government's initiative to improve the road infrastructure in the country.
Sunway at the time had agreed to a partnership with the government in these areas and had expressed an interest in ensuring that projects materialize within a short period of time.
ST. LUCIA
Preliminary figures released by the St Lucia Tourist Board show that the number of tourist stopover arrivals, that is visitors staying 24 hours or more, increased by 6 percent in June 2008, to 23,223 visitors, compared with 21,823 visitors who arrived in June 2007.
The volume of cruise visitors also increased but by just 0.4 percent when compared with June 2007, growing from 19,538 visitors in 2007 to 19,619 visitors this June.
The number of visitors from the USA grew by 8.7 percent, from 11,148 in June 2007 to 12,121 this June. Arrivals from Canada showed a good 90 percent increase from 533 in June 2007 to 1,017 this June.
The number of visitors from the United Kingdom showed a 4.0 percent increase compared with June 2007, up from 5,280 visitors last June to 5,489 this year. The number of visitors from other European countries jumped 37 percent compared with last June, from 543 to 745, led by a significant increase from Ireland (up 158 percent).
Traffic from Caribbean markets showed a 15 percent decline compared with June 2007, falling from 4,105 visitors last year to 3,490 in June 2008. Whilst traffic from Martinique grew by 27 percent, from 550 last June to 702 this June, the number of arrivals from Trinidad and Tobago fell by 28 percent, from 823 in June 2007 to 591 this year, and from Barbados fell by 13 percent, from 890 arrivals last year to 767 in June 2008.
HAITI
Haiti's lower house of Parliament on Thursday ratified President Rene Preval's third choice for prime minister, bringing the impoverished country a step closer to replacing a government dismissed three months ago over violent food protests.
By a vote of 61-1, with 20 abstentions, the lawmakers approved the nomination of economist Michele Pierre-Louis, director of FOKAL, a foundation that provides libraries, youth education programs and women's networks. It is supported by George Soros' Open Society Institute. Pierre-Louis' nomination has still to pass the Senate.
Two previous nominations for prime minister were rejected by lawmakers, hampering Preval's efforts to bring the Caribbean country onto a path to stable democracy after decades of turmoil, military dictatorships and bloodshed.
Preval's last prime minister, Jacques Edouard Alexis, was fired by the Senate in April after riots over soaring food prices and living costs killed at least seven people.
INTERNATIONAL
ZIMBABWE
President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have signed a deal outlining a framework for talks on Zimbabwe's political crisis.
The pair - who were filmed shaking hands at their meeting in the capital Harare - have been locked in a dispute over this year's presidential polls.
It was their first meeting in a decade. Mr Tsvangirai described the pact as a "first tentative step". South African President Thabo Mbeki witnessed the signing of the deal.
The deal comes on the day that a new banknote is issued, for 100bn Zimbabwe dollars - the latest sign of the country's economic meltdown. This is not quite enough to buy a loaf of bread and is worth less than US$1. The official inflation rate is 2.2m%.
FRANCE
The recently freed French-Colombian politician, Ingrid Betancourt, has urged her former captors, the Marxist Farc rebels, to release all hostages.
Ms Betancourt was leading a rally in the French capital, Paris - one in a series of global demonstrations calling for an end to kidnapping and for peace.
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets in Colombia, some holding photographs of missing loved ones. The Farc has waged a 44-year civil war there and still holds 700 captives.
Up to 2,000 more people are believed to be held by the ELN (National Liberation Army), another left-wing rebel group, in remote jungle and mountain camps.
AUSTRALIA
Pope Benedict XVI has met victims of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy at the end of his visit to Australia, the Vatican has said.
Papal spokesman Father Frederico Lombardi said the Pope wanted to show his concern for those who had suffered.
But victims' group Broken Rites claimed that the Pope had not met victims with ongoing grievances against the Church.
The meeting came two days after the pontiff apologised for what he termed the "evil" of sex abuse by clergymen.
July 18th, 2008
REGIONAL
JAMAICA
Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Audley Shaw has said that the Jamaican government has to now maximize the benefits of the PetroCaribe Development Fund, by utilizing the money to enhance the country's economic development.
"We have started off substantially using those (funds) in sort of 'bail-out' circumstances where we have used it to bail out Air Jamaica, we have used it to bail out the Clarendon Alumina Production (CAP). As a matter of fact, in this year alone, $3.5 billion have had to go to CAP; $2.1 billion have had to go to Air Jamaica by way of loans to them; and incidentally, the Port Authority of Jamaica has been loaned some money. Just over $1 billion has been loaned to them. The Sugar Company of Jamaica has been receiving a lot of funds over the three-year history of the programme," Shaw said.
He was responding to questions posed by the Opposition Spokesman on Finance, Dr Omar Davies, in the House of Representatives on Tuesday.
DOMINICA
The government of Dominica remains committed to prudent fiscal and economic management, said Prime Minister, Roosevelt Skerrit in his presentation of the 2008/2009 Budget to Parliament.
According to the Prime Minister, the government’s macroeconomic framework is predicated on the assumption that within the medium-term, a 3 percent minimum GDP growth will be attained.
The Prime Minister outlined his Government’s full commitment to maintaining the following policy goals in the medium-term:
Ensuring sustainability of the country’s fiscal position; Debt sustainability over the medium-term ; Strong management of the public finances ; Achieving economic growth of 3 percent per annum and a primary surplus of 3 percent.
For the 2007/2008 fiscal year, the Government is projecting a current account surplus of $2.8 million and a primary surplus of $12.7 million.
INTERNATIONAL
SOUTH AFRICA
Nelson Mandela, the man credited with ending apartheid in South Africa, has marked his 90th birthday by calling for the rich to do more for the poor. "If you are poor, you are not likely to live long," he said at his village house in Eastern Cape province for a birthday interview.
He is expected to spend the day at home with his family. His predecessor as president, FW de Klerk, described him as one of the greatest figures of the last century.
Mr Mandela was jailed for 27 years for his part in the ANC campaign against white minority rule but went on to become the country's first black president in 1994.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan's main share index closed slightly higher on Friday, breaking a run of 15 consecutive days of falls.
It followed Thursday's emergency late session at which brokers bought 4.5bn rupees ($64m; £32m) of shares from investors desperate to exit the market.
There had been violent protests earlier on Thursday from angry investors who smashed stock exchange windows while calling for a temporary trading halt.
The KSE 100 share index ended Friday up 21.8 points, or 0.2%, at 10,234.78. Pakistani shares have been falling steadily since the new government came to power three months ago.
July 17th, 2008
REGIONAL
ST. KITTS
With the challenges presently facing regional governments, St Kitts and Nevis and other member nations of the Caribbean Community are working steadfastly to do what is in their power to maintain sustainability of their economies.
Prime Minister Dr Denzil Douglas in an address at the launching of a 500 low-income home project called for the growing of food in backyards, adherence to several conservation measures, prudent fiscal policies and increased cooperation between government and civil society.
“There are many challenges that small states like ours are currently experiencing. Globally, the cost of living is rising, and economies and social structures face serious difficulties every day. In some countries, unrest has been experienced. Here in St. Kitts and Nevis your Government is doing what is absolutely necessary to ensure that these things do not happen here in St. Kitts and Nevis,’ said Douglas.
Douglas admitted that Caribbean Governments cannot do it alone and added that “every citizen and resident must become responsible in terms of behaviour.”
CUBA
Cuba is looking to expand the country's oil refining capacity through a joint venture with Venezuela in the framework of solidarity, integration and cooperation between the two countries.
Cuban Basic Industry Minister (Mining and Energy) Yadira Garcia Vera said that the project is being carried out in conjunction with Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) and is expected to be completed in a period of three to four years, reported Juventud Rebelde newspaper.
In statements to the Cuban press at the conclusion of the Fifth Extraordinary Summit of Petrocaribe, the Cuban minister spoke about the importance of the project in the light of skyrocketing oil prices. She said the project would increase refining capacities in plants in the provinces of Cienfuegos and Santiago de Cuba.
Garcia pointed out that the refinery plant in Cienfuegos has already met first period projections, delivering 65,000 barrels a day; the project aims to expand daily capacity to up to 150,000. The plant in Santiago de Cuba plans to increase its daily yield to 50,000 barrels a day and a new plant will be built with a capacity of 150,000 barrels, to compete a total daily production of 350,000 barrels.
The Cuban minister said that when the project is completed, the country would be better prepared to receive increased oil production from Venezuela.
INTERNATIONAL
IMF
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised its global economic forecast after the impact of a credit crunch was not as severe as had been first feared.
The IMF said it now expects the global economy to grow 4.1% in 2008, up from an initial forecast of 3.7% in April. That compares with 5% growth in 2007.
Despite upgrading forecasts for the UK and US, the IMF warned that the global economy remained in a "tough spot". Policymakers need to balance growth, while dealing with inflation, it said.
"The global economy is in a tough spot, caught between sharply slowing demand in many advanced economies and rising inflation everywhere, notably in emerging and developing countries," the IMF said in an update to the World Economic Outlook it published in April.
SPAIN
Spain's Supreme Court has overturned the convictions of four people found guilty of involvement in the 2004 Madrid train bombings.
The four were among 21 people convicted last year over the attacks, which killed 191 people.
The court also upheld the acquittal of an Egyptian suspected of masterminding the attacks, because he had already been convicted of the offence in Italy.
However it convicted and jailed one of those originally found not guilty. The Spanish man, who was sentenced to four years in prison, had earlier been cleared of helping to supply the explosives used in the Madrid attacks.
July 16th, 2008
REGIONAL
DOMINICA
In his 2008/2009 Budget Address, Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Roosevelt Skerrit, announced a package of relief measures to mitigate the negative impact of rising food and fuel prices on the population of Dominica, while at the same time maintaining his government’s reputation for prudent fiscal and economic management.
In the 2008/2009 fiscal year, Government also intends to continue to invest heavily in housing, education, information and communication technology and agriculture and in the execution of its capital programme.
The Budget makes provisions for more financial assistance for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. Effective, July, 2008, allowances granted under the social assistance programmes will be increased by 10 percent. The amounts paid as public assistance will be increased by 50 percent, effective July, 2008.
All persons 65 years and older and as well as infants and young persons up to 18 years of age who are still at a formal education institution, will be exempted from the payment of hospital fees. The school transfer grant for needy children moving from primary to secondary school, will be doubled in this fiscal year to $500.00.
JAMAICA
Talks aimed at averting a strike that could disrupt output from Jamaica's bauxite and alumina sector have broken down, even as disgruntled workers scrapped a deadline for a potentially crippling work stoppage.
Union sources said about 150 technical and supervisory workers at the Jamalco bauxite company in the central parish of Clarendon were still considering some sort of industrial action after talks to settle their dispute collapsed early on Tuesday, however.
The Clarendon refinery that could be hit by a strike has a current capacity to produce nearly 1.5 million tonnes of alumina per year. Alcoa Inc. has a 55 percent stake in Jamalco, following the expansion of the company's alumina refinery at Halse Hall last year. The Jamaican government holds the remaining 45 percent.
The Clarendon workers had threatened to walk off the job by Monday morning if their demands to get back pay, which they said was due to them from 1997, were not met. But they withdrew their formal strike notice during a marathon round of talks on Monday ordered by Labor Minister Pearnel Charles.
GUYANA
The administration of the Office of Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, has placed a ban on Gordon Moseley, a senior reporter attached to the private news agency, WRHM Capitol News, following what the Office alleged to be a negative report carried by the agency on a meeting between Jagdeo and the Guyanese community in Antigua and Barbuda during the recent Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government meeting in that country.
On Monday afternoon, the Permanent Secretary within the President’s Office dispatched a letter to the presidential security detail to enforce the ban.
According to reports, Moseley was declared persona non-grata and was subsequently disallowed entry into the premises of either the Office of the President in New Garden Street or State House on Main Street.
HAITI
Scorned for decades after independence, invaded by US Marines and subject frequently to the whims of Washington politicians, Haiti has endured a difficult history with the United States.
Now many Haitians believe Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, if he becomes the first black US president, could open a new chapter and help their unstable and impoverished Caribbean homeland.
Obama's candidacy has awakened a greater interest than any previous US presidential race in Haiti, where rebel slaves defeated Napoleon Bonaparte's French army to claim independence in 1804 as the world's first black-ruled independent republic.
Many Haitians say they view Obama as an inspiration and a source of pride for black people around the world, and many view him as a kindred spirit.
JAMAICA
PORTIA Simpson Miller has accepted Dr Peter Phillips' challenge for leadership of the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) but complained that up to the time she was issuing the statement, her rival had not officially informed her of his decision.
Simpson Miller, the PNP president and Opposition leader, also appeared to chide Phillips, a vice-president, for doing what no other had in 70 years of the PNP - challenge a sitting party leader.
"I have seen and heard reports throughout the media; and have received several calls from Comrades of the People's National Party and the wider citizenry of Jamaica that Comrade Peter Phillips has made known his intention to resuscitate his candidacy for the office of leader of the People's National Party," she said in a statement to the press.
INTERNATIONAL
CHINA
The UN has given China the green light to bid in a one-off sale of ivory.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) voted in favour of China's request during a meeting being held in Geneva.
China joins Japan as approved buyers of government-owned ivory from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
In 2007, Cites authorised the four nations to sell off stockpiles of legally held elephant ivory.
In order to gain approval, China had to present evidence to members of the Cites standing committee that it had put in place measures to tackle any illegal domestic sales of ivory.
ISRAEL/LEBANON
Israel has confirmed that human remains handed over by Lebanese militant group Hezbollah as part of a prisoner swap are those of two of its soldiers.
Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser were seized in 2006 but until now there had been no confirmation of their deaths.
Israel has handed over five Lebanese prisoners and is releasing the remains of 200 Lebanese and other fighters.
The capture of the two Israeli soldiers sparked a month-long war between Israel and the Shia Islamist militant group.
Israeli generals have reportedly visited both the soldiers' families to inform them personally of the identification of the bodies.
Earlier, the soldiers' relatives broke down in tears as they saw the images of Hezbollah handing over the two coffins.
The Lebanese prisoners crossed into Lebanon after being taken to Israel's Rosh Hanikra border crossing.
The exchange was mediated by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
USA
US inflation accelerated at the fastest rate in 26 years in June, fuelled higher by surging energy prices, official figures have shown.
Consumer prices rose by 1.1% in June, the Labor Department said, more than the 0.7% many analysts had expected.
Federal Reserve boss Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday that the threat of rising inflation had intensified recently.
High inflation will make it harder for the Fed to cut rates and boost an economy hurt by a housing market slump.
July 15th, 2008
REGIONAL
GUYANA
Former Guyana Defence Force officer, Oliver Hinkson, who has been charged with sedition, was granted $1 million bail when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate, Melissa Robertson-Ogle.
Hinkson was arrested and charged with sedition and advocating the commission of a terrorist act after he made a public statement at a City Hall press conference in February of this year, which experts later deemed incriminating and a possible threat to national security.
The matter involving Hinkson was transferred from the court of Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys to that of Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle last week.
But Hinkson’s lawyers have questioned the transfer, noting that it was not done on their client’s court day and therefore was deemed illegal.
However, the hearing proceeded and the defence team made another bail application in which they were successful.
NEVIS
Minister with responsibility for Lands and Housing, Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives Robelto Hector hosted his Federal colleague Minister Cedric Liburd on Nevis on July 11, 2008, to discuss matters related to a proposed fishing complex in Charlestown to be funded by the government of Japan.
In an interview with the Department of Information at the proposed site of the complex, Hector pointed to it’s benifit to Nevis and cited that the million dollar project had received the blessings of the Federal government.
SURINAME
Officials here have disclosed that the Suriname government is set to establish a new state-owned aluminum company aimed at advancing the industry. The announcement came during a press conference of the Council of Ministers headed by vice president Ram Sardjoe.
Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Gregory Rusland, noted that he presented a proposal to the government to establish the entity. However the Council of Ministers has yet to sanction these plans.
Rusland further explained that he is opting for a new company, which would partner with either BHP-Billiton or Alcoa/Suralco or with both multinationals together to develop the bauxite deposits in the Bakhuys Mountains in West-Suriname.
The Suriname government is aiming for an integrated aluminum industry in West Suriname, including hydro-power facilities and a smelter. Negotiations with the joint-venture partners BHP-Billiton and Alcoa/Suralco have so far failed to produce an agreement on this issue.
VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday oil prices could hit $300 per barrel if US oil company Exxon Mobil again freezes Venezuelan assets in a dispute over a nationalized oil project.
Exxon won court orders freezing $12 billion in assets held by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA after the OPEC nation took over a multi-billion dollar oil project, heightening tensions with the United States and helping to raise oil prices.
A London court later overturned Exxon's temporary asset freeze, but Chavez said the company could seek further action against Venezuela.
INTERNATIONAL
USA
A videotape of a detainee being questioned at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been released for the first time.
It shows 16-year-old Omar Khadr being asked by Canadian officials in 2003 about events leading up to his capture by US forces, Canadian media have said.
The Canadian citizen is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002.
He is seen in a distressed state and complaining about the medical care.
The footage was made public by Mr Khadr's lawyers following a Supreme Court ruling in May that the Canadian authorities had to hand over key evidence against him to allow a full defence of the charges he is facing.
USA
Barack Obama, the Democratic contender for the US presidency, has said his main priority as president would be to end US involvement in Iraq.
Speaking before an international tour, Mr Obama said "our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe".
The senator said another priority would be to take the war to al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
His Republican rival accused Mr Obama of contradicting himself over Iraq.
IRAQ
At least 35 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a double suicide bombing north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, army sources say.
The two attackers mingled with a crowd of would-be recruits at an army base in the city of Baquba and then blew themselves up simultaneously, they say. At least one of the bombers is said to have been disguised as a soldier.
Meanwhile, US forces in Iraq say they have detained 15 suspected insurgents, including an alleged al-Qaeda leader. The bomb attacks at the al-Saad army camp in the east of Baquba took place at about 0800 (0500 GMT).
July 14th, 2008
REGIONAL
TRINIDAD
Prime Minister Patrick Manning is no longer pursuing the idea of an Executive Presidency.
Addressing a full house at the PNM's 42nd Annual Convention at the Chaguaramas Convention Centre, Manning formally buried the notion of an Executive President, acknowledging at the same time that there were those who felt that it was the be-all and end-all of this Prime Minister's existence.
In a 90-minute speech Manning unveiled a completely new system of Government involving major constitutional change.
JAMAICA
Motorists caught behind the wheel without their driver's licences could be immediately locked up under proposed legislative changes being contemplated by the ruling Jamaica Labour Party, in a desperate bid to address the country's growing crime dilemma, the Observer newspaper is stating.
The paper quoted from a source which states that once a police pulls over someone who is driving without a drivers license, that person is going straight to jail.
According to Observer the measure is one of several legislative changes that Prime Minister Bruce Golding may decide to adopt and announce this week in answer to the country's cry for the administration to do something to stem the tide of killings. The others concern the expansion of powers currently available to the Jamaica Defence Force to include those available to the Jamaica Constabulary Force; a national DNA database which will be built up from information taken from blood samples of Jamaicans and a national fingerprint database.
GUYANA
The first patient to have a kidney transplant done in Guyana is showing signs of improvement and doctors continue to pay close attention to how his body adapts to the new kidney he received from his mother in the historic surgery that was done last Saturday.
With the risk of the patient contracting infections still great, barriers have been put up in a section of the Intensive Care Unit of the George-town Public Hospital where the young man and his mother are patients.
Shortly after visiting the patients at the hospital yesterday Health Minister, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy told the Stabroek News that both mother and son are recovering well. He said they are doing better than expected, adding that new kidney is functioning but will take a few more days before it becomes fully functional.
BARBADOS
Bad management is one of the major causes for the decay of patient care facilities at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital say doctors.
But they contend this rot can be stopped if the QEH's chief executive officer Winston Collymore is removed.
The Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners stated in a media release issued to set the record straight on the continuing industrial unrest at the QEH over the last two weeks.
In the release, the doctors said they were committed to ensuring the well-being of the public and pledged they would redouble their efforts to remedy the QEH's ills and restore confidence in the institution. But to achieve this, Collymore must go, they say.
JAMAICA
Despite a senior citizen's discount complimentary flights, free food and complimentary accommodations granted to Prime Minister Bruce Golding, he and his delegation spent approximately $12.7 million on official travel overseas in his first eight months as head of government.
Documents gleaned under the Access to Information Act showed Golding opted to use private aircraft for four of the 11 trips, at a combined cost of close to $3 million.
GRENADA
Barbados’ Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, said while great emphasis is placed on the number of visitors entering Barbados , greater attention must be paid to what they do during their stay, to ensure greater benefits to the island and specifically in communities.
Sealy said that as the tourism sector is further developed, Barbados must ensure that the benefits are better distributed through the communities via community tourism, which he remarked has been practiced for several years.
INTERNATIONAL
MISS UNIVERSE
Miss Venezuela was crowned Miss Universe 2008 in a contest marked by the spectacle of Miss USA falling down during the evening gown competition for the second year in a row.
An elated Dayana Mendoza received the crown from her predecessor, Riyo Mori of Japan.
Miss Venezuela , 22, was once kidnapped in her homeland and says the experience taught her to remain poised under pressure.
Tension got under the skin of Crystle Stewart of Texas , the second Miss USA in a row to fall down during the Miss Universe pageant. She tripped on the train of her bejeweled evening gown as she made her entrance.
During the 2007 Miss Universe contest in Mexico City , Miss USA Rachel Smith also tumbled during the evening gown competition and became an unintended star on You Tube, where the video was shown over and over again.
USA
Senator Barack Obama's campaign has sharply criticized The New Yorker magazine over the publication's latest cover illustration, which appears to portray the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee and his wife as terrorist enemies of the United States.
The cover, published Sunday, shows Obama in the Oval Office dressed in traditional Muslim attire. His wife, Michelle, wears an Afro hairstyle and has a machine gun slung over her back. An American flag can be seen burning in the fireplace, and a picture of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.
TURKEY
A top Turkish prosecutor has brought charges against 86 people allegedly involved in a coup plot.
The prosecutor said those charged included leading figures from the army, business and the secular press.
BRAZIL
Workers at Brazil 's state-run oil company Petrobras are staging a five-day strike, raising fears of further pressure on world oil prices.
July 9th, 2008
REGIONAL
GRENADA
Tillman Thomas was sworn in today as Grenada's eighth prime minister following his party's overwhelming victory in yesterday's general election.
Today has been declared a public holiday in celebration of the change in government.
Preliminary results show that the Thomas' National Democratic Congress won 11 of the 15 seats contested in yesterday's general elections, with the remainder going to the New National Party of defeated prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell.
BARBADOS
Opposition Leader Mia Mottley last night dismissed Monday's Budget as a karaoke presentation that let down the poor, ravished the middle class, and short-changed thousands of civil servants who voted for change in the January 15 General Election.
Delivering her maiden Budget reply in the House of Assembly, the Opposition Leader said Prime Minister David Thompsons economic recklessness has seen him taking $104 million more in taxes from the pockets of Barbadians, while merely reimbursing them with $200 000 in welfare grants, outlining a series of impractical measures, and announcing initiatives none of which offered immediate relief.
BARBADOS
In a dramatic and unprecedented development last night, Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley publicly declared her assets and liabilities to the House of Assembly and challenged the ruling Democratic Labour Party MPs to do the same.
According to the document, as at June 30, 2008, Mottley has assets totalling $3.5 million and liabilities of $1.5 million.
Mottley's revelations, the first by a Barbadian politician, stole a march on the DLP which had campaigned in the run-up to the January 15 general election on a platform that painted the then ruling Barbados Labour Party as corrupt and guilty of a lack of integrity, transparency and accountability as well as of poor ministerial conduct after 14 years in office.
JAMAICA
Minister of Finance and the Public Service Audley Shaw says the Government is renegotiating the forward-sales alumina agreement between the Jamalco Alumina Company and the overseas-based Glencore.
Shaw told reporters that the country was in more trouble because of what he called the bad alumina contract the previous government inked with Glencore.
The finance minister said that under the agreement, the People's National Party government advanced the collection of earnings for alumina, but, based on the terms of the contract, alumina was now being supplied to Glencore far below market rate.
In fact, Shaw said so bad was the contract that the rate at which the product was now being supplied was even below the actual production cost. According to Shaw, when the former administration entered the forward-sales alumina agreement, it made no allowance for any increase in energy or production costs.
INTERNATIONAL
IRAN
Iran has test-fired nine missiles, including a new version of the Shahab-3, which is capable of reaching its main regional enemy Israel. The Shahab-3, with a range of 240 miles was armed with a conventional warhead, state media said.
Iran has tested the missile before, but the latest launch comes amid rising tensions with the US and Israel over the country's nuclear programme.
July 2nd, 2008
REGIONAL
JAMAICA
Kingston attorney-at-law Vincent Chen was successful in having his fraud convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal.
Chen, a former senior partner in the law firm Clinton Hart and Company, was convicted in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court in April 2005 of conspiracy to defraud and causing money to be paid by false pretences. Senior Resident Magistrate Jennifer Straw had fined him a total of $2.2 million.
The conspiracy to defraud charge involved $10 million which former banker Ronald Sasso had invested in Caribbean Trust Finance and Investment, a provident society, of which Chen was a shareholder.
TRINIDAD
The Trinidad Express newspapers is reporting that Trinidad and Tobago's economy has been going so well that US President George Bush has informed Congress the country is now a high income one and therefore no longer qualifies for duty-free access for exports.
Unfortunately for local exporters, however, the high income designation comes with a downside to them, as Bush has issued a presidential proclamation that terminates this country's preferential treatment under the Generalised System of Preferences to export a range of products duty-free into the American markets, in the next two years.
According to the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the GSP is a programme designed to promote economic growth in the developing world and provides preferential duty-free access for the entry of more than 4,500 products from 131 designated beneficiary countries and territories.
CARICOM
CARICOM leaders today began their first full day of deliberations focusing on the tourism sector that has been a key contributor to their countries' economies. There are concerns that recent global developments, such as the rising cost of fuel and changes in flight schedules by US-based airlines, could undermine the viability of an industry that provides thousands of jobs for Caribbean nationals.
The leaders will hear special presentations by St. Lucia's Tourism Minister and Chairman of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Allan Chastenet and his Antigua and Barbuda counterpart, Harold Lovell, on efforts to make the sector more competitive in light of the new threats, including a 17 per cent cutback in airline services from the United States, the region's main tourism market.
TRINIDAD
The Copyright Music Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago, COTT, is set to hand out over six million dollars in royalties.
The royalties, a 21 per cent increase from the sum handed out in 2007, came from collections from income streams such as media broadcasts, playing of music at business places and at events, as well as music played during the Carnival 2008 season.
In a release, Allison Demas, chief executive officer of COTT, said the increase was due to increased royalty collections by COTT's music licensing staff, as well as more technologically advanced distribution system. She added the new system was set up by Josh Rudder, COTT's distribution manager, and Otis Grant, operations manager of Caribbean Copyright Link.
GUYANA
Acting Police Commissioner Henry Greene said the police are awaiting the arrival of a forensic team from the United States to aid in the investigations of the Lindo Creek mass murder in Berbice.
The forensic tests are expected to determine the time and cause of death of the eight miners whose burnt remains are in Police custody, he explained.Greene said, in his opinion, the gunmen Police are hunting remain trapped in the jungle and the Joint Services would not leave until they are found.
On June 6, 2008, a party of policemen encountered a group of the gunmen and one of them was shot and killed at Christmas Falls, 300 miles South along Berbice River. Since then, the Joint Services have deployed ranks to search for the fleeing gang and two more of their numbers,were killed at Goat Farm, another Berbice River location.
President Bharrat Jagdeo had said, during a press conference last week, that Guyana has made a request, through its embassy in Georgetown, for a forensic pathologist from the U.S.
INTERNATIONAL
COLOMBIA
Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt has been rescued, the country's defense minister Juan Manuel Santos said Wednesday. She was kidnapped by FARC in 2002.
The Colombian military detailed an operation that resulted in the liberation of Betancourt, three Americans and 11 other hostages.Those freed include Americans Keith Stansell, Marc Gonsalves and Thomas Howes. They were among an estimated 750 hostages held by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, for its acronym in Spanish. FARC holds its hostages in the jungles of South America.
ISRAEL
Hezbollah has agreed to a swap with Israel involving prisoners both alive and dead, leader Hassan Nasrallah says.Speaking on Hezbollah-run television Wednesday, Nasrallah said the exchange of prisoners for two Israeli soldiers --kidnapped two years ago and believed to be dead -- would most likely "be carried out in a couple of weeks."
The Lebanese militant group would also release a report to a U.N. mediator "in few days" about Ron Arad, an Israeli airman who has been missing since he was forced to eject from his plane over Lebanon in October 1986.
IRAQ
Iran's foreign minister has said his government might consider the American idea of opening a U.S. diplomatic outpost in Tehran -- comments coming amid possible progress in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has approved studying the idea of putting U.S. diplomats in an interests section that would be hosted by a third party's embassy in Iran's capital. However, State Department officials note that the idea is very preliminary and not anywhere near fruition. Interests sections are a way to let a country post diplomats in a nation with which it has no formal diplomatic relations.
July 1st, 2008
REGIONAL
BARBADOS
Barbados' most energetic calypsonian Darcy Ras Iley Small will not be jumping, prancing or shaking his six-foot locks this year.
The diminutive Ras Iley, who celebrates 25 years in the entertainment business this year, is suffering from sciatica – a pain caused by a compression or irritation of the sciatic nerve in the lower back.
It has forced him to scrap his plans for a big Crop-Over celebration this season.
During an interview with the Daily Nation yesterday, Ras Iley explained that he was in excruciating pain and was taking time to let his body recuperate.
The former jockey, who is an entertainer and a farmer, said all those strenuous tasks contributed to his injury. He is also under strict doctors' orders to rest.
TRINIDAD
Prime Minister Patrick Manning says there is intelligence from specific leading countries which recommends that all states develop specific national security responses in order to deal with threats that could result from widespread hunger.
Manning did so as he described this country's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) 2009, as one on which the fate of the world hangs in the balance, given the combined influence of the body's 52 member states.
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, who attended the launch, said next year's CHOGM will be a significant event for Trinidad and Tobago, given the challenges now facing the world.
JAMAICA
A US-based church mission has cancelled plans to come to Jamaica after 39 of its colleagues were roused from their beds and robbed at gunpoint at the Salvation Army at Mannings Hill Road in St Andrew hours before dawn on Monday.
According to Major Ward Matthews, secretary for business administration for the Salvation Army in the Caribbean, the robbers gained access to a secure area where the Americans were sleeping at the rear of the School for the Blind compound.
The robbers also stole an American passport but the travel document was later found near a wall at the back of the premises, Matthews said.
GUYANA
Former Guyana Defence Force officer, Oliver Hinkson, who has been charged with sedition, was granted $1 million bail when he appeared before Acting Chief Magistrate, Melissa Robertson-Ogle.
Hinkson was arrested and charged with sedition and advocating the commission of a terrorist act after he made a public statement at a City Hall press conference in February of this year, which experts later deemed incriminating and a possible threat to national security.
The matter involving Hinkson was transferred from the court of Magistrate Gordon Gilhuys to that of Acting Chief Magistrate Melissa Robertson-Ogle last week.
But Hinkson’s lawyers have questioned the transfer, noting that it was not done on their client’s court day and therefore was deemed illegal.
However, the hearing proceeded and the defence team made another bail application in which they were successful.
NEVIS
Minister with responsibility for Lands and Housing, Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives Robelto Hector hosted his Federal colleague Minister Cedric Liburd on Nevis on July 11, 2008, to discuss matters related to a proposed fishing complex in Charlestown to be funded by the government of Japan.
In an interview with the Department of Information at the proposed site of the complex, Hector pointed to it’s benifit to Nevis and cited that the million dollar project had received the blessings of the Federal government.
BARBADOS
Government is in the process of implementing measures to assist in combating the effects of climate change on the fishing sector.
Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud at the Fisherman’s Day celebrations held at the Georgetown Fisherman’s Co-op Complex, Meadow Bank Wharf, East Bank Demerara, yesterday said that within two weeks government plans to start discussions with stakeholders of the fishing industry at a workshop that will be held to allow presentation and analysis of data on the sector.
Minister Persaud noted that government will take the lead in this situation by conducting more scientific studies into the problem as well as work to tap into international resources. International experts have been invited to help analyse the increasing problem of ‘dwindling’ catch and what measures can be put in place to assist, he said.
The Agriculture Minister said that the approach to be taken will be a unilateral one whereby not only the government but stakeholders in the industry will implement measures to deal with the situation.
SURINAME
Officials here have disclosed that the Suriname government is set to establish a new state-owned aluminum company aimed at advancing the industry. The announcement came during a press conference of the Council of Ministers headed by vice president Ram Sardjoe.
Minister of Natural Resources and Energy, Gregory Rusland, noted that he presented a proposal to the government to establish the entity. However the Council of Ministers has yet to sanction these plans.
Rusland further explained that he is opting for a new company, which would partner with either BHP-Billiton or Alcoa/Suralco or with both multinationals together to develop the bauxite deposits in the Bakhuys Mountains in West-Suriname.
The Suriname government is aiming for an integrated aluminum industry in West Suriname, including hydro-power facilities and a smelter. Negotiations with the joint-venture partners BHP-Billiton and Alcoa/Suralco have so far failed to produce an agreement on this issue.
VENEZUELA
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday oil prices could hit $300 per barrel if US oil company Exxon Mobil again freezes Venezuelan assets in a dispute over a nationalized oil project.
Exxon won court orders freezing $12 billion in assets held by Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA after the OPEC nation took over a multi-billion dollar oil project, heightening tensions with the United States and helping to raise oil prices.
A London court later overturned Exxon's temporary asset freeze, but Chavez said the company could seek further action against Venezuela.
JAMAICA
Minister of Health, Rudyard Spencer has revealed that Jamaica is leading the Caribbean in the fight against AIDS, having reduced the prevalence rate of HIV in Jamaica to about 1.5 per cent, thereby reducing the number of persons in the country who die of AIDS.
The Minister was speaking at the launch of the US$44.1 million Global Fund Agreement last week in Kingston.
This agreement is Jamaica's second HIV/AIDS proposal to the Global Fund, following the Ministry's successful implementation of the first HIV/AIDS proposal to the Global Fund (2002-2009).
According to the Minister, the agreement signals "another step in Jamaica's commitment to the HIV/AIDS programme."
INTERNATIONAL
USA
A videotape of a detainee being questioned at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay has been released for the first time.
It shows 16-year-old Omar Khadr being asked by Canadian officials in 2003 about events leading up to his capture by US forces, Canadian media have said.
The Canadian citizen is accused of throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan in 2002. He is seen in a distressed state and complaining about the medical care.
The footage was made public by Mr Khadr's lawyers following a Supreme Court ruling in May that the Canadian authorities had to hand over key evidence against him to allow a full defence of the charges he is facing.
ZIMBABWE
A spokesman for Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has rejected Western criticism of the country's disputed presidential run-off election. At an African Union summit in Egypt, George Charamba said the West had no basis to speak about the situation - and can go hang a thousand times.
Zanu-PF's Robert Mugabe said he had won the vote, boycotted by the opposition.
The opposition MDC said Friday's one-man election had killed off any prospect of a negotiated settlement.
SAUDI ARABIA
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday ruled out further increases in crude production following its June 23 announcement that it would pump an extra half-million barrels a day.
In an interview with CNN, Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said he was troubled by the current high levels of petroleum prices, but added, "his country had nothing to do with where prices are at present. He denied the problem is one of immediate oil supply.
USA
Barack Obama, the Democratic contender for the US presidency, has said his main priority as president would be to end US involvement in Iraq.
Speaking before an international tour, Mr Obama said "our single-minded and open-ended focus on Iraq is not a sound strategy for keeping America safe".
The senator said another priority would be to take the war to al-Qaeda and the Taleban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. His Republican rival accused Mr Obama of contradicting himself over Iraq.
IRAQ
At least 35 people have been killed and more than 50 injured in a double suicide bombing north of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, army sources say.
The two attackers mingled with a crowd of would-be recruits at an army base in the city of Baquba and then blew themselves up simultaneously, they say. At least one of the bombers is said to have been disguised as a soldier.
Meanwhile, US forces in Iraq say they have detained 15 suspected insurgents, including an alleged al-Qaeda leader.
The bomb attacks at the al-Saad army camp in the east of Baquba took place at about 0800 (0500 GMT).
