News
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Earthquake victims in Haiti’s homeless camps continue decline
Three years after Haiti’s devastating Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake, there are 320,050 people living in camps — 27, 230 less than those living in the squalid encampments in December, the International Organization for Migration said Monday. The number represents a 79 percent drop from the 1.5 million Haitians who sought shelters in hundreds of makeshift tent cities after the disaster.…
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Mixed reactions to Bunting’s ‘divine intervention’ statement
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Several stakeholder groups agreed yesterday that National Security Minister Peter Bunting sent the wrong signal about his commitment to tackling Jamaica's crime problem in statements he made on the weekend. While there was support for Bunting from several quarters, including one of his predecessors, he drew strong criticisms for statements some argued “he had no business making”.…
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Opposition “alarmed” at statement by National Security Minister on crime
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The main opposition Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) says it is alarmed at a statement by National Security Minister, Peter Bunting acknowledging that the fight against crime seems to be a futile endeavour in Jamaica. “It is not only alarming; it is the tone and the manner in which he expressed himself, though I empathise with him,…
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Good going, CCJ
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The cross-Caribbean hearings of the Shanique Myrie case have given the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) much-needed and well-deserved prominence as a forum where the average Caricom citizen can seek legal protection and redress. While the CCJ has had some impact on the life of the region, none of the cases that have come before…
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Help small and vulnerable economies
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar yesterday used an international forum to issue a call for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to increase their aid to small and vulnerable economies. Persad-Bissessar was speaking at the United Nations General Assembly Thematic debate “The UN and Global Economic Governance” in New York. She stressed that…
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Europe’s Bitter Medicine
For more than two years, European leaders have pushed a cocktail of fiscal austerity and structural reforms on troubled countries like Portugal, Spain and Italy, promising that it will be the tonic to cure their economic and financial ailments. All the evidence shows that this bitter medicine is killing the patient. Portugal’s highest court recently ruled against cuts to the…
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Lessons for Jamaica from the Thatcher legacy
legacy KINGSTON, Jamaica – In death, as in life, Margaret Thatcher remains a hugely divisive political figure: The tributes from admirers read more like hagiography writings on the lives of saints, rather than biography. Detractors conjure up one her nicknames — “Thatcher the milk snatcher” — to recall how she removed milk from the public school-feeding programme to save money…
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Clashing With Margaret On Grenada
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The recent passing of one of the greatest political leaders of the 20th century was a shock to all who knew of her powerful leadership. Her policies were transformational, redirecting global political thinking and empowering the call for action. Her mission was a supreme belief in the force of the market and the power of the individual…
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Thatcher and the Caribbean
KINGSTON, Jamaica – For days to come, we can expect virtual saturated international media coverage of Britain's only and longest-serving prime minister of the 20th century, Baroness Margaret Thatcher. Her unique political leadership style, her bullish toughness as a politician in wielding State power and intimidating dissent, even within her own Conservative party, had earned her the (un)flattering sobriquet 'Iron…
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BRICS WITHOUT MORTAR
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…
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