ST JOHN’S, Antigua – General Counsel for the office of United States Trade Representative (USTR) Timothy Reif is warning that the United States “cannot” allow the World Trade Organisation’s decision in the online gaming dispute to be used as a tool for “piracy” by Antigua & Barbuda.
“We, the US government, obliviously cannot allow any WTO decision to be distorted into a license for piracy,” the USTR attorney told OBSERVER Media in an exclusive interview yesterday.
Antigua and Barbuda
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - Politically, things are heating up across the region, as many countries have announced election dates, while others have already done so over the past few months. Once again, citizens are being given the opportunity to choose individuals who would best represent their interests and needs. Our sister isle Barbuda is no exception.
St. John’s Antigua- “Extract your pound of flesh” from America and then start on the path to building Antigua & Barbuda’s decimated gaming industry outside of the United States.
This advice to government comes from Attorney Hugh Marshall Jr. who said the nation should not kowtow to pressure from the US in the ever-escalating World Trade Organization (WTO) trade dispute.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Caribbean countries are being urged to not only update their list of deportees, but also to share that vital information with regional counterparts.
The call came from National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort, who said deportees who are not Antigua & Barbuda citizens are able to gain entry into the twin-island nation – a major concern for law enforcers here.
He said local authorities do not have adequate mechanisms to monitor such individuals, due to a lack of detail on their previous history and the offences they’ve committed.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Contrary to the belief emanating from some quarters, deportees do not head the list of crime perpetrators in Antigua & Barbuda.
National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort said these individuals are not at the forefront of the criminal activities that “we are currently experiencing.”
In an exclusive interview with OBSERVER Media, Dr Cort said based on reports from the various law enforcement agencies, “The suggestion is that perhaps they might be more behind the scenes organising and arranging, but they are certainly not at the forefront.”
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government said Monday it had been granted authorization by the World Trade Organization (WTO) to suspend certain concessions and obligations it has under international law to the United States in respect of intellectual property rights.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - There is a general cry that “things are bad in Antigua.” Some are doing well, some are not doing too well and some are “catching hell.” Perhaps we can try to emulate Dickens and say “It was the best of times and the worst of times,” but such a description of the state of Affairs in Antigua & Barbuda would be incorrect. Whereas Dickens was writing specifically of the state of affairs in London or the whole of England or perhaps Paris, he was not attempting to state of a global economic perspective of living in that uncertain era.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Government of Antigua and Barbuda has successfully partnered with several international groups and countries through the regional Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme (CREDP) project in launching the first renewable energy project on the island.
The 6-kilowatt photovoltaic power system at the Nelsons Dockyard Shirley Heights Lookout was aided by the Organization of American States (OAS), the European Union, and the governments of the United States of America and Germany.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Antigua & Barbuda is unwilling to consider any monetary settlement below US $21 million annually to end the gaming dispute with the US, according to Finance Minister Harold Lovell.
Lovell said a one off US $10 million settlement, which was once put on the table by the US to end the gaming dispute between the two countries, was far off the mark.
St. John’s Antigua- The EPA Implementation Coordinator said local businesses should not only use the Cariforum-EC agreement to market to mainland Europe, but EU countries closer to home. “We are seeing Europe as thousands of miles away, but we need to see Europe as the island just over there, Guadeloupe and Martinique,” Barbara Williams said at the launch of the Validation Workshop on the National EPA Implementation Plan yesterday.