Jamaica
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Mr Bunting’s dark night of the soul
KINGSTON, Jamaica – MR Peter Bunting, the national security minister, might have used his “dark night of the soul” description out of the true context meant by 16th-century Spanish poet and Roman Catholic mystic, Saint John of the Cross, whose poem of the same title speaks of the painful experience that people endure as they seek to grow in spiritual…
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Air Passenger Duty: ‘Stinging us for everything we’ve got’
KINGSTON, Jamaica – IT IS automatically added to every flight out of the UK, but when The Voice spoke to Caribbean-bound travellers at Gatwick Airport, some had never even heard of air passenger duty (APD). The travel tax has been rising year-on-year making billions in revenues for the government, but pricing out ordinary people from travelling to the tropical region.…
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Whither Chavismo without Chavez?
KINGSTON, Jamaica – MR Nicolas Maduro, late President Hugo Chavez' choice to succeed him, was elected president of Venezuela on Monday by a very narrow margin. But his opponent, Mr Henrique Capriles has challenged the legitimacy of the result, claimed victory and called for a recount by hand of all paper ballots. Although Mr Maduro publicly pledged to allow the…
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WTO director: No safe place in world
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – There is no safe place in the world. That was the response yesterday from Carlos Vogeler, regional director for the Americas, World Tourism Organisation (WTO) in response to questions about the double bombing at the Boston marathon and reports that 50 tourists aboard a bus were robbed in St Lucia. “I think we need to…
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‘A dark night of the soul’
KINGSTON. Jamaica – 'A dark night of the soul' is how National Security Minister Peter Bunting described what some are calling his meltdown in an unusually candid speech saying divine intervention was necessary to defeat crime in Jamaica. Thirteen was indeed an unlucky number for Bunting who has received both favour and flak following his April 13, 2013 address to…
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EDITORIAL – The PM’s Divestment Of Leadership
KINGSTON. Jamaica – Leadership is often a difficult, lonely process that is not given to being franchised out. But judging from her handling of the Richard Azan debacle, this is a concept that Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller does not find opportune, at this time, to embrace. The PM, instead, uses her Cabinet as insulation. Maybe she didn't think deeply…
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IMF cuts growth forecast for Jamaica
KINGSTON. Jamaica – THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its 2013 growth forecast for Jamaica, with the country now projected to grow by .5 per cent, down from the one per cent estimate in October 2012. But the country's economy should strengthen in 2014, with real GDP growth of 1.2 per cent, according to the fund in its latest edition…
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The EPA — Better late than never
KINGSTON, Jamaica – OUR commendation goes to fellow columnist Sir Ronald Sanders for his insightful and descriptive piece on the Cariforum states and the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the EU (Sunday Observer 7th April ). This agreement has been somewhat of a non-starter since its provisional acceptance on 15th October 2008, and has not yet been ratified. The reasons…
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Blanco moves closer to WTO director general post
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Dr Herminio Blanco has been chosen to contend in the next round of the selection process for Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). The selection committee, based in Geneva, Switzerland, and headed by the president of the WTO's General Council, presented the results of the first stage of consultations which involved the 159 member countries…
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Iron Lady’s legacy won’t rust in peace
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Britain will this week bury Margaret Thatcher, the prime minister who transformed her country, for better or worse. Opinion polarises about the woman the Soviet press famously dubbed the 'Iron Lady'. On the Right, she is celebrated as the woman who took down the unions, breathed life into a moribund public sector, reinvigorated the economy and thus…
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