Leaders of government and Opposition Business in both Houses of the Jamaican Parliament on Tuesday buried the hatchet, presenting a unified front to the media for the co-operation they said would be the hallmark of the new Parliament. The historic press conference, held after the opening ceremony for the new session of Parliament and the swearing in of members, was addressed by new leader of government business in the House of Representatives Phillip Paulwell. Paulwell, in acknowledging that debates in times past have been known to get downright rowdy with…
Read MoreCategory: Regional
EU Ambassador accredited by CaricomEU Ambassador accredited by Caricom
Head of Delegation of the European Union to Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and for the Dutch Overseas Countries and Territories, Ambassador Robert Kopecký on Tuesday presented his Letters of Credence to Caricom Secretary General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque. The presentation ceremony held at the Caricom Secretariat in Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana, saw Ambassador Kopecký being accredited as the plenipotentiary representative of the European Union (EU) to Caricom. Ambassador Kopecký will now formally be able to continue building on the long standing relationship between the two groupings. According to an EU…
Read MoreAbsence of ill Hugo Chavez sparks speculation
There is growing uncertainty in Venezuela over President Hugo Chavez’s health, two weeks after he underwent an operation in Cuba for what the authorities said was a pelvic abscess. On June 24, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Chavez – who is still in Cuba – was in what he called a “great battle” for his health. But Vice-President Elias Jaua accused the media of stoking speculation. “We will have Chavez for a long time!” he said on June 25. The normally loquacious Chavez, 56, had been uncharacteristically quiet since…
Read MoreCholera increasing in Haiti and Dominican Republic
Cases of cholera are on the rise in Haiti and neighbouring Dominican Republic, the United Nations World Health Organisation (WHO) reported on June 24, saying more than 18,000 new cases in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, have been recorded recently. “This increase may be partly due to the beginning of the rainy season and the flooding that hit the capital,” WHO spokesperson Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva. “Data from the Ministry of Public Health of Haiti showed that since the beginning of the outbreak till June 12, there had been…
Read MoreIDB to support expansion of low-income microfinance programme
Patrimonio Hoy, the housing microfinance programme of CEMEX, the world’s largest building materials supplier, will expand lending to low-income families in Mexico and four other Latin American countries. This was facilitated by a partial credit guarantee of up to US$10 million from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). As many as 750,000 families over the next five years are expected to benefit from this project. Patrimonio Hoy is one of Latin America’s most successful social enterprises, providing low-income families earning less than four times the minimum wage in Mexico with access…
Read MoreBan Ki-moon wins second term as UN SG
UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon has been re- elected to serve a second five-year term, in a vote at the UN General Assembly in New York. Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, was the only candidate after the UN Security Council unanimously recommended his re-election. Critics say he is too deferential to major powers, but he has won praise for his policies on climate change and the protests sweeping the Middle East. He took over the UN in 2007. His second term will formally begin on January 1,…
Read MoreWorld’s oceans in ‘shocking’ decline
The world’s oceans are in a worse state than previously suspected, according to an expert panel of scientists. In a new report, they warn that ocean life is “at high risk of entering a phase of extinction of marine species unprecedented in human history”. They concluded that issues such as over-fishing, pollution and climate change are acting together in ways that have not previously been recognised. The impacts, they say, are already affecting humanity. The panel was convened by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), and…
Read MoreTT private sector group urges swift appointment of Caricom SG
The Trinidad and Tobago Chamber of Industry and Commerce on Tuesday called on regional governments to fill the position of Caricom secretary general. In a statement read on its radio programme in TT, the private sector group said that it has been more than six months since Trinidad and Tobago national Sir Edwin Carrington stepped down as secretary general and regional leaders are still unable to name a re placement. Sir Edwin, 72, who served in the post for 18 years, has since been appointed Trinidad and Tobago’s Ambassador to…
Read MoreUN lauds new Haiti initiative
The head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has welcomed the US$360 million fund launched by Haiti’s new president to ensure the most disadvantaged children in the country can go to school. The National Fund for Education (FNE), announced two weeks ago by President Michel Martelly, is the biggest fund of its kind ever envisaged for out-of-school children in the impoverished Caribbean nation. Haiti’s education system was devastated by the earthquake in January 2010, according to UNESCO, even before the disaster, only one in five children…
Read MoreBajan woman creates Anglican history
Barbadian-born lay minister has created history by becoming the first woman to be ordained as a Deacon in the Anglican Diocese of the Windward Islands. Eleanor Glasgow, Director of Lay Ministries of the Anglican Church in Grenada, broke new ground in the sub- region after being ordained as a Deacon at the St George Cathedral Church in St Vincent and the Grenadines. Her ordination comes 11 years after the Windward Diocese assented to the ordination of women, after the idea was first rejected in 1997. “I believe that by my…
Read More