United States of America

SEOUL, South Korea — Secretary of State John Kerry warned North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-un, on Friday not to proceed with a test launch of its Musudan missile and underscored that his nation would be defeated if a conflict broke out.

CHICAGO,  (Reuters) – Even as U.S. officials this week awaited the arrival of a sample of the new bird flu virus from China – typically the first step in making a flu vaccine – government-backed researchers had already begun testing a “seed” strain of the virus made from the genetic code posted on the Internet.

WASHINGTON, DC, USA (CMC) —The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) says that at least one in three adults in the Americas, including the Caribbean, has high blood pressure or hypertension.
PAHO, an arm of the United Nations’ World Health Organisation (WHO), said on Wednesday that hypertension is the number-one risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death throughout the world. Hypertension is believed to affect nearly one billion people worldwide.

WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says low-income countries (LICs), including the Caribbean, have “bounced back” in the past two decades.

An analysis in the Washington-based financial institution’s latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) suggests that “dynamic low-income countries are on a stronger economic footing today than before the 1990s, and, therefore, better placed to stay on course.”

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea appeared to ease its stance on North Korea on Thursday by calling for dialogue to help defuse tensions, as its president moved to calm foreign investors whose confidence the North has tried to shake with increasingly belligerent maneuvers.

SEOUL/WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – South Korea said yesterday there was a “very high” probability that North Korea, after weeks of threats of war, would test-launch a medium-range missile at any time as a show of strength. Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se said South Korea had asked China and Russia to intercede with the North to ease tension that has mounted since the U.N. Security Council imposed fresh sanctions on North Korea after its third nuclear arms test in February. In Washington, U.S.

WASHINGTON, CMC - New United States federal data shows that President Barack Obama’s immigration initiative has paid off for 454,000 young Caribbean and other immigrants who were brought to the US illegally. Under the “deferred action” initiative that took effect late last year, 26,000 New York residents were granted immunity from prosecution for at least two years, the third-highest in the country. The data shows that California has the most residents who received waivers followed by Texas.

WASHINGTON, CMC – As the World Ocean Council (WOC) gets ready to host the Save our Seas conference (SOS) 2013, the Washington-based Institute for Caribbean Studies (ICS) has issued a call for private sector leadership in securing the future of the Caribbean Sea.
“SOS 2013 is an unparalleled, world-class gathering of the diverse ocean business community. It sets the agenda for ensuring responsible industry operations,” said Dr. Claire Nelson, ICS’ Jamaican-born president. 

WASHINGTON (CMC) - The Trinidad and Tobago-owned Caribbean Airlines, (CAL) has been fined US$100,000 for violating United States federal rules after it prevented passengers from disembarking from one of its planes delayed on the tarmac at the John F Kennedy International Airport last August. The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) said the plane was delayed for more than four hours and that CAL “failed to provide customers with food and water until almost four hours after the plane left the gate during the tarmac delay”.

WASHINGTON, CMC –The United States says it will review cases in which Caribbean and other detainees are being held in solitary confinement in detention centers and jails around the country. Homeland Security Department Secretary Janet Napolitano has asked US federal immigration officials to provide her with more information about immigrants being held in solitary confinement at federal facilities.