KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, CMC – Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves wants Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders to seriously address the regional airline industry when they meet later this year. CARICOM leaders will meet in Haiti for their inter-sessional summit in February and Gonsalves said that apart from cooperation with other airlines, there is need to address matters such as energy costs, fuel and “we need to address the subsidy which CAL (Caribbean Airlines) is getting and competing with LIAT in the same space, the same single economic space.
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CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is still suffering a "severe" respiratory infection that has hindered his breathing as he struggles to recover from cancer surgery in Cuba, the government said on Thursday. The 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public nor heard from in more than three weeks. Officials say he is in delicate condition after his fourth operation in just 18 months for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has rejected a call by Argentina's president for Britain to give control of the Falkland Islands to Argentina. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner wrote an open letter to the British leader accusing his country of colonialism. More than 30 years have passed since Britain and Argentina fought a 10-week war over the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the southwest Atlantic Ocean, but their dispute continues.
CARACAS, (Reuters) – Vice President Nicolas Maduro returned to Venezuela yesterday after visiting Hugo Chavez in hospital in Cuba, but gave no new details on the cancer-stricken president as rumors grow about his condition.
Flanked by senior government figures including Diosdado Cabello, the head of the National Assembly, Maduro toured a coffee production plant in Caracas – the type of visit that the president made frequently before he fell ill.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Trinidad and Tobago's fifth President will be elected on February 15 and some of the top candidates in the race, according to sources, are House Speaker Wade Mark, former head of British Petroleum (BPTT) Robert Riley and political analyst Dr Hamid Ghany.
NASSAU, Bahamas — THE government of the Bahamas says it has prepared a two-part referendum that could legalise certain forms of gambling on the islands. National Security Minister Bernard Nottage says voters will be asked whether they support creation of a national lottery and the regulation and taxation of now underground gambling centres. He said in a speech late Wednesday that the referendum will be held on January 28.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has listed Allen Stanford’s case as one of its most significant for 2012. Stanford, who headed a global financial titan and many businesses in Antigua, was brought down by US investigators looking into a US $7 billion fraud scheme. He was convicted and, in June 2012, sentenced to 110 years in jail for running a Ponzi scheme.
In another bizarre twist to the seemingly never-ending political intrigue that has enveloped the Cayman Islands in recent weeks, it seems that Premier Juliana O’Connor-Connolly did not resign with the rest of her government colleagues from the United Democratic Party last weekend. Attempts to determine Ms O’Connor-Connolly’s official status within the UDP were unsuccessful by press time. The premier did not respond to repeated requests for comment about the matter throughout the week.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, CMC – Government and opposition were continuing their barbs over the need to reform the security system in Guyana with the embattled Home Affairs Minister Clement Rohee saying it is “very regrettable” that the opposition parties were not willing to support the new initiative. The Partnership for National Unity (APNU) and the Alliance for Change (AFC) have both said while they welcomed the initiative they were not prepared to work with Rohee on the matter.
PORT-AU-PRINCE, (Reuters) – Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide yesterday won a delay until next week in a court hearing to address accusations he exploited former street children for political gain. Aristide, who did not appear in court, has not been charged with a crime and a judge will ultimately decide whether any charges should be filed. His lawyer successfully argued that the hearing should be delayed to next Wednesday because the court summons was served improperly.