Archives for Wednesday, December 15, 2004:

Magnitude 6.7 earthquake hits Grand Cayman

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: A strong earthquake was felt throughout Grand Cayman at 6:20 pm on Tuesday, December 14, 2004. According to a preliminary report from the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center in Denver, the epicenter of the magnitude 6.7 event was located some 21 miles south...  read more...

Trinidad and Tobago's bid for FTAA Secretariat gets a boost

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: A senior government official has told Caribbean Net News that "favourable discussions are taking place between the Government of Trinidad & Tobago and other supportive countries in the hemisphere," regarding the calypso country's bid to house the permanent secretariat for the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA)... read more...

Earthquake damage in Dominica estimated at US$19 million

ROSEAU, Dominica :The official estimate for necessary repairs, rehabilitation and reconstruction work to official buildings as a consequence of the recent earthquake and accompanying heavy rainfall is US$19.1 million... read more...

Castro welcomes Venezuela's Chavez, Cuba's energy lifeline

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Ailing Cuban President Fidel Castro has welcomed Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, his only close ally in the Americas, whose government helps keep Cuba's energy-starved economy afloat with cut-rate oil...  read more...

Cuba hails wargame warning to US

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): Cuba pressed on Tuesday with its biggest military exercises in almost 20 years, with 400,000 reservists joining regular forces and millions of civilians in wargames which the authorities say are to deter a US invasion...  read more...

EU to decide in January whether to modify sanctions against Cuba

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP): The European Union will review its sanctions against Cuba in January as it moves towards normalizing relations with Havana, while stepping up dialogue with Cuban dissidents, EU sources said Tuesday... read more...

Cuba increases defence spending

LONDON, England (AFP):  Cuba has increased its defence spending "for the first time in many years", according to the annual armed forces review by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)... read more...

US food firms to hold talks in Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): A group of US lawmakers and businessmen will hold talks in Cuba this week on supplying about 100 million dollars of food products to the cash-strapped nation, the state Alimport company announced... read more...

Regional Leaders urged to tackle land degradation

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Governments in the region are being urged to seriously tackle the issue of land degradation to ensure food security and prevent deaths from natural disasters such as flooding.  Dr. Richard Cox, Secretariat to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought (UNCCD), put forth this challenge... read more...

UN peacekeepers sweep into violent Haitian shanty town

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) :United Nations peacekeepers on Tuesday carried out a vast operation to restore order in Cite Soleil, one of the Haitian capital's most violent shanty towns... read more...

Antigua-Barbuda government sees no basis for negotiating with Guiana Island owner

ST JOHNS, Antigua :The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda on Tuesday received a briefing from the country’s Attorney General Justin Simon QC on his meeting with the attorneys of Dato Tan Kay Hock, the Malaysian investor who owns the disputed Guiana Island lands in Antigua and Barbuda... read more...

Antigua-Barbuda in meeting ahead of EC negotiations

ROSEAU, Dominica: Antigua and Barbuda was among CARICOM Member States meeting in Dominica early this month to discuss a plan of action for their negotiations with the European Community. This was the third CARIFORUM meeting on EPA negotiations, but the first technical working group meeting... read more...

Praise for St Kitts-Nevis minister's initiative

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts: An initiative by the newly appointed Minister with responsibility for National Security, G. A, Dwyer Astaphan called, "Youth Apprenticeship Programme (YAP)" and designed to bring a sense of direction to those young people who have lost their way, has met with strong words of praise and support from the public at large... read more...

Caribbean Court of Justice will broaden rights of Jamaicans

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Consultant in the Attorney-General’s Chambers, at the Jamaican Ministry of Justice, Professor Stephen Vasciannie, has said that the impending Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), would serve to broaden the rights of the average Jamaican... read more...

Jamaica and European Union sign Ja$2 billion agreement

KINGSTON, Jamaica: In light of the widespread damage Jamaica sustained as a result of Hurricane Ivan in September, the European Union (EU) Commission has signed an agreement with the Government, to provide funding to rehabilitate and reconstruct the affected sectors... read more...

Director of Bahamas National Drug Council wins award

NASSAU, Bahamas: Who says working in the field of drug demand reduction does not pay? Well, Miss Marcia Munnings, executive director of the Bahamas National Drug Council, has reaped major dividends for her work, unprecedented in the country and perhaps, the Caribbean.  The 45-year-old single mother is the recipient of the Eclipse Award...  read more...