News

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Police are investigating the disappearance of a significant amount of data on Barbados’s critical oil industry from the Division of Energy and Telecommunications.

In a statement responding to a newspaper report that “millions of dollars worth of seismic data” had been reported missing, the  Division of Energy and Telecommunications sais that “the matter in question is now subject to an on-going police investigation” and as a result it “is not in a position to engage in a detailed discussion at this time.

LOS ANGELES, California, CMC – The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil fraud lawsuit against one of the world’s larger credit-ratings agencies that services several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – A British trade mission showcasing Information & Communication Technology (ICT) and expertise arrives here on Wednesday as part of a visit to two Caribbean countries.

The British High Commission said that the mission will visit Barbados until Thursday before travelling to St. Lucia for a one-day visit.

CROIX-des-BOUQUETS, Haiti - The bright green, orange and blue box-shaped tiny buildings beckon like neon signs on a dark night. Partially built and the size of a tiny motel room, the two-room structures are a huge improvement over the tattered tents and tin shacks where 347,284 Haitians still linger three years after the devastating Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, Express - Now that it's all over bar the secret voting for a finally named candidate in Justice Anthony Carmona, the process of electing a President of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago has advertised itself as crying out for reform toward realising today's expectations of transparency. Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar last week appeared to voice regret that the public get to play no part in an exercise restricted to the Electoral College, comprising members of both houses of Parliament.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Observer - Employers discriminate against sickle cell patients, say experts SICKLE cell experts yesterday debunked as myth, a common belief that the illness is a death sentence, and appealed to Jamaicans to end stigmatisation and employment discrimination of people with the disease. Director of the Sickle Cell Unit Professor Marvin Reid, and officials of the Sickle Cell Support Club of Jamaica and the Sickle Cell Trust, told the Jamaica Observer Monday Exchange that the nature of the stigmatisation has resulted in depression among many sickle cell patients.

KINGSTON, Jamaica, Gleaner - A team from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was due in the island yesterday and is expected to remain in Jamaica until February 15. The mission is being headed by Jan Kees Martijn. In a release yesterday, the Ministry of Finance and Planning said the mission followed extensive discussions by Jamaican officials with representatives of the IMF in Washington, DC.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will seek to build momentum for US immigration reform this week ahead of his State of the Union address, which is expected to challenge Republicans to take up an overhaul amid an increasingly contentious debate in Washington. Obama plans to hold a series of White House meetings with corporate chief executives, labour leaders and progressives today to lobby for their support, and he has dispatched Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to the Southwest to tout the administration’s border security efforts.

(Trinidad Guardian) KINGSTON—The Government of Jamaica has unveiled ambitious plans that will build the Caribbean island into a Global Logistics Hub for the Americas and position it as a regional trading mecca similar to Singapore, Dubai and Rotterdam. High level discussions have already started with a number of overseas investors to develop vast areas of prime real estate to handle increased volumes of air and sea cargo.

HAVANA (Reuters) – Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is getting “much better” as he recovers from cancer surgery almost two months ago in Havana, Communist Party newspaper Granma reported yesterday. Castro, 86, spoke to reporters as he voted on Sunday in Cuba’s parliamentary elections_ in one of his increasingly rare public appearances. He said he gets daily reports on the condition of Chavez, who is Cuba’s top socialist ally and benefactor. “He is much better, recovering.