PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Caribbean nations are being urged to join other regions of the world in Earth Hour, a global activity intended to raise awareness of climate change. The concept is simple. On March 23, individuals and organisations in participating nations will turn off their non-essential lights for one hour. In 2012, official Earth Hour activities took place in more than 7,000 cities and towns across 152 countries.
News
KINGSTON, Jamaica - Last Thursday, the United States Congress abandoned efforts to find consensus on a way to avoid automatic budget cuts.
Although both Republicans and Democrats professed willingness to compromise and pursue a balanced and pragmatic approach, the two political parties adhered rigidly to their ideological economic fundamentalism.
Sequestration requires 5.1 per cent automatic cuts amounting to US$85 billion. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that if sequestration remains in place there would be job loss of 750,000 during the remainder of 2013.
WASHINGTON, CMC - A new World Bank study says a rise in sea levels by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 per cent of the Caribbean and the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation.
The study says this will lead to economic losses of about US$630 million annually.
The World Bank analysis considers a variety of types of coastal wetlands at risk in 76 countries and territories, using a number of databases and satellite maps.
The 24th Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM recently adopted a “Regional Crime and Security Strategy”.
The Strategy resulted from consultations among regional security officials of CARICOM Member States by the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS), as mandated by the Council of Ministers Responsible for National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE) at its Fifth Meeting.
Fellow Barbadians
One week has passed since the General Election in Barbados on February 21. I should like to express my heartfelt thanks to all citizens and residents for taking Barbados peacefully through one of the most exciting and exacting election campaigns in our post-independence history.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Guardian- An increase in exports and a reduction in poverty were among the achievements highlighted when the Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development rolled out the first ever Government performance appraisal report in T&T on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E).
In delivering the performance report, Planning Minister Dr Bhoendradatt Tewarie noted that the Medium Term Policy Framework (MTPF) delineates government’s five priority areas that will support improvement in the quality of lives of citizens. These areas include_
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Guardian- Former CL Financial chairman Lawrence Duprey has been summoned to appear before the Clico/HCU commission of enquiry next Tuesday. Andre Monteil, former group financial director, has also been summoned to appear on the same day. Sir Anthony Colman, chair of the commission, yesterday granted an order applied for by Gerald Ramdeen, junior counsel to the enquiry.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Express- Opposition Leader Dr Keith Rowley is calling for the removal of Senior Superintendent Surajdeen Persad as a director of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA).
"It is quite unacceptable that a police officer could have behaved in the way that he did, with respect to what has been exposed in the public domain—where he was listing persons within the security agency whom he believed were supporters of a political party," Rowley said in a telephone interview yesterday.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Express- Plans announced recently by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and National Security Minister Jack Warner to give similar powers to the Defence Force as those of police officers are set to go a step further today.
Legislation to give members of the Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) authority to function and perform the duties of a police officer will be laid in the Parliament today.
ON, England (AFP) — EU president Herman van Rompuy warned yesterday that Britain will struggle to win support for its plans to renegotiate its membership of the European Union, and said that trying to exit the bloc could prove costly.
In a speech in London, Van Rompuy urged Britain to stay inside the 27-member group, saying it had a role to play in reforming the union and would have a stronger voice in world affairs than if it went it alone.