By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - We are not as concerned as most that Jamaica hasn't yet concluded a borrowing agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). For failure to conclude a deal will further narrow our options in the financial markets and perhaps force us into a cold-turkey kicking of our borrowing habit. Our greater fear is that the Government lacks the will to implement the policies that, with or without an IMF agreement, will be necessary if Jamaica is not to be sucked irretrievably deep into a fiscal black hole around which we have thrashed for too long.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica - The Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) last night indicated that Cabinet has received an update from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) negotiating team and given directions for transmission to the IMF staff in order to bring about a conclusion to the negotiations. The update was received during day one of a special three-day meeting of the Cabinet at Jamaica House yesterday. During the meeting, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller reportedly outlined the administration's focus on growth, development and job creation.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller says it is “necessary” for Jamaica to secure an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as her Cabinet ended the first day of a three-day meeting here.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

Evidence of loss remains even three years after a massive earthquake claimed the lives of as many as 200,000 people in Haiti. In the middle of Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, there is a cathedral whose sun-washed walls reach into the sky where a roof used to be. A lone flagpole marks the spot where the National Palace, a symbol of Haiti's government, once proudly stood. And on a downtown street that once bustled with storefronts, there is now a row of vendors who sell their wares under tent poles and umbrellas.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

Cholera could be contained in Haiti by vaccinating less than half the population, University of Florida researchers suggest in a paper published in the journal Scientific Reports. The work places UF's Emerging Pathogens Institute in the pro-vaccination camp in an ongoing international debate over how best to contain the two-year-old epidemic that has claimed thousands of lives. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been skeptical about the effectiveness of vaccination against cholera in this setting.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

Just in time for the third anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010, Canada’s principal foreign aid minister, Julian Fantino, delivered a wake-up call to that country’s government by declaring that he was placing future foreign aid to Haiti “on ice” because he was not satisfied with its progress toward recovery. Given that Haiti would collapse without foreign assistance, his comments got the immediate attention of the government and Haiti’s international partners.

By mahtabala, 11 January, 2013

PORT AU PRINCE, Haiti, CMC – The head of the Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) Hervé Ladsous has arrived here ahead of the third anniversary of the devastating earthquake that killed more than 300,000 people in the French Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country on January 12, 2012. The United Nations said that Ladsous, who has already met with Haitian President Michel Martelly is also scheduled to meet with a number of government officials. He will also meet with officials and staff from the UN Peacekeeping Force (MINUSTAH) before his return to the United States this weekend.

By mahtabala, 10 January, 2013

CARACAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chávez’s supporters have not ruled out swearing him in from his hospital in Havana. His detractors are calling for government investigators to go check his pulse themselves. The justices whom Mr. Chávez’s allies have named to the Supreme Court have decided that he can continue to govern in absentia.

By mahtabala, 10 January, 2013

NEW YORK, CMC – The Grenada-born American legislator, who was arrested during the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade two years ago, is hailing the decision of a court to strike down part of the New York Police Department (NYPD) “stop-and-frisk” policy.
“I thank Judge Scheindlin for standing up to the abuses of the stop, question and frisk tactic and standing up for the residents of the Bronx who have been unfairly targeted and unjustly arrested,” Brooklyn Councilman Jumaane Williams told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) on Wednesday.

By mahtabala, 10 January, 2013

CARACAS, Venezuela, (UPI) -- A Venezuelan Supreme Court ruling letting President Hugo Chavez begin his new term Thursday in absentia was politically motivated, a key opposition leader said.
The court's ruling was intended "to resolve the problem" in the ruling United Socialist Party of a growing power struggle between Vice President Nicolas Maduro and National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello, Henrique Capriles said.
The power struggle has "totally paralyzed" the government, he said.