Archives for Monday, December 12, 2005:

South Africans may attempt to infiltrate Haiti from Dominican Republic to sabotage elections

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic. Immigration authorities in the Dominican Republic are carefully inspecting the travel documents and personal identification of all arriving passengers of South African and European origin, following intelligence reports that South Africans are planning to enter the country by air and then cross the border with Haiti, in order to sabotage the elections in that country... read more...

CARICOM signs free trade agreement with Cuba

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders and Cuban President Fidel Castro have made an agreement giving Cuba access to free trade in the region... read more...

OAS says St Vincent poll was fair, Gonsalves calls for unity

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent: Following what election officials in St. Vincent and the Grenadines called a "high profile" campaign and election, the Assistant Secretary-General of the Organization of the American States (OAS), Albert Ramdin, has expressed satisfaction with what he had observed as far as the conduct and operations of the elections... read more...

CARICOM urged to break US embargo on Cuba

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Barbados and its Caribbean Community (CARICOM) neighbours are being urged to increase their support for Cuba by undertaking an initiative to break the US embargo on that country... read more...

USAID advisor found murdered in Guyana

GEORGETOWN, Guyana:  Workers at the popular five star hotel Le Meridian Pegasus located in Georgetown, Guyana, made a gruesome discovery when they found the body of a USAID advisor lying in a pool of blood at about 8:00 pm Saturday in his room located on the sixth floor of the hotel... read more...

St Lucians urged to guard against landslides

CASTRIES, St. Lucia: The Ministry of Communications, Works, Transport and Public Utilities in St Lucia has highlighted the need for landowners to take responsibility for protecting their own properties from the onslaught of land slippages... read more...

CARICOM countries ratify revised treaty

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Twelve member countries of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have now ratified the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, paving the way for the adoption of the Treaty Establishing the Caribbean Community and the creation of the Caribbean Single Market in January 2006... read more...

Suriname remembers victims of 1982 massacre

PARAMARIBO, Suriname:  In Suriname and in the Netherlands, memorial services were held on Thursday to honour the victims of the so-called ‘December murders’. Sixteen men were detained on 7 December 1982, tortured and ultimately executed a day later by the then ruling military junta... read more...

Haitian elections: Cité Soleil remains a challenge

CITÉ SOLEIL, Haiti: "The Mission of Stabilization of the United Nations in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is determined to allow citizens of Cité Soleil to exert their voting rights like the other citizens of the country," stated a UN spokesman on Thursday... read more...

St Lucia to introduce Single Regulatory Unit for financial sector

CASTRIES, St. Lucia: A Single Regulatory Unit (SRU) involving all players in the financial sector is currently being introduced in St Lucia. Over the weekend a consultative meeting was held among representatives of the credit unions and cooperative sector, officials of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Labour Relations, Public Service and Co-operatives... read more...

Czech Roman Catholic missionary freed after kidnapping in Haiti

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP): Czech Roman Catholic missionary Roman Musil has been released by kidnappers in Haiti, Foreign Minister Cyril Svoboda told the Czech CTK news agency Saturday... read more...

New top US diplomat in Cuba slams repression

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): The new top US diplomat in Cuba met publicly with Cuban dissidents for the first time Saturday and accused President Fidel Castro's communist government of abusing its political foes... read more...

East Timor PM visits Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba (AFP): The prime minister of East Timor, Mari Bim Amude Alkatiri, began an official visit to Cuba Saturday to "reinforce" bilateral relations, the government newspaper Granma reported... read more...

Jamaica seeks to learn from Australian business initiative

KINGSTON, Jamaica: Jamaica, through its investment company, JAMPRO is seeking to maximize the benefits from the region's staging of the 2007 Cricket World Cup and hopes to learn from the Business Club Australia initiative, which is the official business promotion and facilitation agency behind next year's Melbourne Commonwealth Games... read more...

Montserrat to get Human Rights Commission

BRADES, Montserrat: In order to establish a Human Rights Commission made up of Montserratians, the Human Rights Reporting Committee (HRRC) held a press conference on 23 November 2005 in Montserrat to announce their intentions of launching a public education strategy... read more...

Trinidad and Tobago delegation for World Trade Conference

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad: Trinidad’s Trade and Industry Minister Kenneth Valley will be leading a Trinidad and Tobago delegation to the World Trade Organization’s Sixth Ministerial conference, scheduled for December 13 to 18, in Hong Kong, China... read more...

First-ever Grenadian movie produced on domestic violence

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada:  Domestic violence and how it affects society continues to be a topic of interest in most countries and in Grenada a full-length movie ‘Blinded’ is making it even more interesting. The movie, which was produced, written and developed by Anderson Quarless, is geared at educating people... read more...

Soap opera actors to ring in New Year on St Croix

ST CROIX, USVI:  Babe and Jamie from the soap opera All My Children will celebrate New Year's Eve on St Croix in the US Virgin Islands this year. The daytime stars are the guests of honor at "Shades of White," a December 31 holiday gala to benefit the Grove Place Weed and Seed program... read more...

EDUCATION NEWS

College of the Bahamas expands

NASSAU, The Bahamas: The College of The Bahamas took another step towards university status with the official opening of its two-storey bookstore, a café, and a business centre recently.  The facilities were declared open by Alfred Sears, Attorney General and Minister of Education.  He said 2005 marks the institution’s 30th anniversary... read more...

HEALTH NEWS

Cayman Islands preparing for bird flu

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands: Even though the chances of a bird flu outbreak in the Cayman Islands are currently considered to be remote, an inter-departmental committee is developing a preparedness plan to respond... read more...

LEGAL NEWS

US Supreme Court asked to review Puerto Rico voting ban decision

WASHINGTON, USA: The US Supreme Court has an opportunity to review its doctrine of colonialism established a century ago in the infamous Insular Cases which relegated residents of Puerto Rico to second-class citizenship... read more...

LETTERS

Consider this marketing approach

I share the Minister of Tourism’s enthusiastic comments regarding the recent launch of Delta Airlines service from Atlanta to Barbados.  Six million potential travellers live within one hour’s drive of Hartsfield Airport and Atlanta must offer one of the best connecting city hubs in North America... read more...

SPORTS NEWS

Trinidad and Tobago players relish England World Cup clash

LONDON, England (AFP): Trinidad and Tobago's British-based players are looking forward with enthusiasm to their match against England in next year's World Cup finals in Germany... read more...

England's Ferdinand looks forward to World Cup clash against Trinidad

LONDON, England (AFP): Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes England's World Cup group game against Trinidad and Tobago will have the atmosphere of an FA Cup tie, the Sun reported on Saturday... read more...

Watford in the hunt for Jamaica’s King

LONDON, England:  English Coca-Cola Championship League side Watford have announced that they have joined the list of contenders vying for the service of Jamaican international Marlon King.  King, an on-loan striker from Nottingham Forest, is the leading goal scorer for the Hornets this season... read more...

Walsh calls for better facilities in the US Virgin Islands

ST THOMAS, USVI:  West Indies fast bowling legend Courtney Walsh has called on the cricket officials of the US Virgin Islands to upgrade their playing surfaces in an attempt to improve the level of game in that country... read more...