News
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The Caribbean after Chavez
KINGSTON, Jamaica – Seventeen countries of the Caribbean face a heightened period of economic uncertainty now that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has died. Twelve of the 17 Caribbean countries are members of the Caribbean Community (Caricom). They have become highly reliant on their oil supplies from Venezuela on a part payment-part loan scheme, called PetroCaribe, without which their difficult economic…
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Former minister to re-appear in court in May
THE VALLEY, Anguilla, CMC – Former home affairs minister Walcott Richardson is due to re-appear in court on May 10 on two charges of indecent assault. Richardson, who resigned from the Hubert Hughes administration last month, has been granted EC$110,000 (One EC dollar = US$0.37 cents) bail. In announcing his resignation last month, Richardson said he felt “in the current…
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Prof Spence: An outstanding Caribbean citizen
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prof John Arnott Spence, who died on Wednesday night at 83, will be remembered for his sterling service to T&T and the region as a scientist, academician and spokesman for agriculture. As a UWI lecturer, public servant and independent senator, even in his retirement years his vast knowledge added value and inspired positive developments, not…
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Former academic and legislator dies
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Former academic and legislator, Professor John Spence has died. He was 83. Relatives said that he died of a heart attack late Wednesday. Spence was a Professor of Botany and also Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the St. Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) and served as an…
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Budget cuts will affect travel to New York
NEW YORK, CMC – Secretary of the United States’ Homeland Security Department, Janet Napolitano, has warned passengers at John F. Kennedy International Airport to schedule extra hours for travel as the department faces a 5 percent cut in the US federal budget battle. Napolitano told reporters that while passengers at New York’s airports are yet feel the impact of spending…
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Moody’s downgrades foreign currency credit rating
KINGSTON, Jamaica, CMC – The United States-based rating agency, Moody’s Investor Services has cut Jamaica's sovereign foreign currency credit rating to Caa3 from B3, citing the recent domestic debt exchange as a distressed event that still leaves the country with a high debt burden. Last month, Jamaica launched a National Debt Exchange (NDX) to alleviate the financing pressures of its…
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