BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The Middle East seems on the verge of another war or at best a long period of instability. Last week, Israel reportedly made air strikes on Syria, a development which has already attracted wide condemnation in the Arab world. Egypt on Sunday condemned the attacks, with the Arab League also demanding that the United Nations Security Council act to stop what it called “Israeli attacks”. It says the air strikes “violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation”.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - SIR Hilary Beckles' recently published book, Britain's Black Debt, has returned to the spotlight the burning issue of reparations.
Launched last Thursday at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies, the book definitively establishes that there is a case to be answered by providing detailed historical evidence of slavery.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – The Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI) is calling for the establishment of an ethical protocol for government ministers who are facing serious allegations.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – South Africa is seeking to widen its relationship with Jamaica under a cooperation agreement dating back to 2009, the country’s ambassador Mathu Joyini has said.
“The one thing that Jamaica does particularly well is sports from the school level. It is something that we can learn,” she said, noting that the 2009 accord encouraged co-operation, as well as facilitating the exchange of knowledge, experience and achievements between both countries in the fields of arts and culture.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - The Organisation of American States (OAS) regional experts meeting on the project “Expanding the Socio-Economic Potential of Cultural Heritage in the Caribbean”, got under way at Amaryllis Hotel yesterday.
OAS Representative to Barbados, Francis McBarnette, pointed out to participants that the OAS of today represents a hemisphere of vast cultural diversity, whether referring to architecture, paintings, music, sculpture, craft work, cinema cuisine, literature or religion.
“All these forms are relevant, ever evolving, and dynamic,” he stressed.

ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC - Health Minister Julius Timothy, 61, has returned to Dominica less than a week after he was flown to the neighbouring French island of Martinique for medical treatment.
The state-owned DBS radio confirmed Timothy’s return, but gave no details about his ailment.
Last week, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said Timothy, who had collapsed at his office, had complained of numbness in certain parts of his body and had urged nationals to pray for his recovery.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – The European Union is providing EC$37 million (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) over a five year period to St. Lucia under the Banana Accompanying Measures (BAM) to finance the government’s Agricultural Transformation Programme (ATP).
“Today marks another milestone on our journey towards the restructuring of our agricultural sector. This we hope to achieve through specific interventions in a bid to make it more sustainable and competitive for the future,” said Prime Minister and Minister and Finance, Dr. Kenny Anthony.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Vice-chairman of Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) Mohan Jaikaran is proving the state enterprise is not cash-strapped, as he has requested 19 complimentary airline tickets for a Mother’s Day concert scheduled for New York City and Toronto this weekend, of which he is a co-promoter. The directive caused raised eyebrows among management, as two weeks ago there were reports that the national carrier had once again turned to the Government for funding, to the tune of $100 million.

KINGSTON, Jamaica - A high-level team from Trinidad and Tobago is to arrive in the island in a few weeks to hammer out an arrangement with the Jamaican Government over recent actions relating to Caribbean Airlines (CAL), including the carrier's plan to drastically reduce flights to Jamaica.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - Some visitors to Barbados have been giving the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) negative reviews on various websites. And they are especially critical about the attitude of customs and immigration officers. Discerning travellers are going on websites such as Britishexpats.com, TripAdvisor.com and Barbados.airport-authority.com, to name a few, to write their experiences for the world to see. “A special kind of hell” was how one British visitor writing on TripAdvisor.com last September described the GAIA.