Last month, China’s new president, Xi Jinping, chose Moscow for his first foreign visit. He and President Vladimir Putin announced a number of agreements and then traveled to Durban, South Africa, for the fifth BRICS summit, where they joined with the leaders of India, Brazil and South Africa to announce the creation of a new development bank that could challenge the dominance of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The five leaders’ speeches referred to a shifting world order, and Xi said “the potential of BRICS development is infinite.”
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MOSCOW — A leak of details about offshore bank accounts belonging to Russian businesspeople and the wife of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov threatens to embarrass President Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to crack down on the use of tax havens.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of 160 journalists around the world, has started releasing its findings from a 15-month investigation into offshore money.
WASHINGTON, CMC – United States military officials on Saturday announced that US forces raided the detention center in Guantánamo, Cuba, systematically emptying communal cellblocks in an effort to end a three-month-old hunger strike that detainees claimed was sparked by mistreatment of the Quran.
“Some detainees resisted with improvised weapons and, in response, four less-than-lethal rounds were fired,” according to a statement issued by the prison camps at the US Navy base in Cuba. “There were no serious injuries to guards or detainees.”
Haiti MIAMI, CMC - The United States Coast Guard says it has rescued six men rescued off the coast of Haiti.
The Coast Guard said Sunday, the six, whose identities were not released, were located about 37 nautical miles from Ile de la Tortue, Haiti.
The US Coast Guard said that its District Seven command center had received a report from the Dominican Republic Coast Guard of six people adrift near Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - THE START of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season is less than two months away, but with the predictions from the various forecasters of a very active season, we need to start putting the necessary precautions in place.
We must disabuse our minds of the silly notion that a hurricane will not hit our country, believing that it enjoys the Saviour’s special blessings and we can therefore ignore the scientific data being presented by the meteorological experts. Yes, we can stupse and criticize the predictions, but we do so at our own peril.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Within a month T&T will open its embassy in Bejing, China, more than 30 years after China established its embassy here in T&T. On June 20, 1974 China established diplomatic relations with T&T and in April of 1975 the embassy was established. Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran sees no issue in the delay in reciprocating. “It is all a matter of timing,” he said.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is to deliver remarks today at the United Nations Headquarters in New York. She will speak at the thematic debate on “The UN and Global Economic Governance”, a news release from the Office of the Prime Minister said. The Prime Minister’s speech will be carried live on CNMG at approximately 9.30 a.m. and on Radio 90.1
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Florida-born rap artist Rick Ross packed maybe 10,000 fans into the Andre Kamperveen stadium in Paramaribo last Saturday. Bearded, bald-headed and big-bellied, he looks a bit like the prison officer he once was. He shares his name with the former drug trafficker Rick “Freeway” Ross—who once tried to sue the rapper for name-theft. His lyrics win few good-behaviour awards.
election CARACAS -- Hugo Chávez proved his power from beyond the grave Sunday, as his handpicked successor narrowly won office in a contested vote that many saw as a tribute to the fallen socialist firebrand.
Nicolás Maduro, 50, a long-time ally of the late president, narrowly edged out rival Henrique Capriles in a race that will be contested.
Maduro won 7.505 million votes, or 50.6 percent, vs. Capriles’ 7.270 million, or 49.1 percent, the National Electoral Council (CNE) said. With 99 percent of the vote counted, the results were conclusive, the CNE said.
WASHINGTON, CMC – The Peace Corps says it is phasing out of its programme in Suriname after an 18-year partnership. The agency office will officially close at the end of July this year.
“Since 1995, Peace Corps volunteers and staff in Suriname have worked closely with community partners and government institutions to make a difference and ensure project sustainability,” said Acting Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet.
“The Peace Corps is leaving a strong legacy that will live on long after the Suriname post closes.”