Archives for Friday, April 23, 2004:

EU parliament demands immediate release of Cuban dissidents

STRASBOURG (AFP): The European Parliament on Thursday repeated its call for the immediate release of 75 Cuban dissidents who have been detained since a government crackdown early last year... read more...

Cuba "forced" to withdraw resolution on Guantanamo due to lack of support

WASHINGTON, USA (AFP): Cuba was "forced" to withdraw its draft resolution at the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva alleging rights abuses at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay due to a lack of support, a US official said Thursday... read more...

Former Haitian paramilitary chief held prisoner

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP): Former Haitian paramilitary commander Louis Jodel Chamblain, a top leader of armed rebels who played a role in the February 29 departure of former president Jean Bertrand Aristide, was taken prisoner on Thursday, according to an AFP reporter on the scene... read more...

UN asks Philippines to send doctors to Haiti mission

MANILA, Philippines (AFP): The United Nations has asked the Philippines to send a medical contingent to troubled Haiti as part of a planned international peacekeeping mission, Manila's envoy to the world body said Thursday... read more...

Nova Scotia votes to invite Turks and Caicos to join it

HALIFAX, Canada: According to CBC News, Nova Scotia's three political parties voted unanimously Wednesday to invite Turks and Caicos to join the province, if the Caribbean islands ever become part of Canada... read more...

Return to single digit inflation projected for Jamaica

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Jamaican Minister of Finance and Planning, Dr. Omar Davies has said that the Government is projecting an inflation rate of nine per cent for fiscal year 2004/05. The preliminary inflation outturn for the previous fiscal year was 16.7 per cent, more than twice the projected target of seven per cent for the period... read more...

Air carriers add new flights to the Caribbean in response to high demand

NEW YORK, USA: The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) reports that air carriers are continuing to recognize the progressive high demand for air service to the world’s number one warm-weather destination by adding new flights and frequencies to and through the Caribbean region.... read more...

Little Caribbean frog survives banana boat ride to Britain

LONDON, England (AFP): A tiny, rare Caribbean tree frog has miraculously survived a transatlantic journey to Britain in the cold, refrigerated hull of a banana boat, officials said Thursday... read more...