United States of America
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Obama to lobby for immigration reform amid citizenship dispute
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Barack Obama will seek to build momentum for US immigration reform this week ahead of his State of the Union address, which is expected to challenge Republicans to take up an overhaul amid an increasingly contentious debate in Washington. Obama plans to hold a series of White House meetings with corporate chief executives, labour leaders and…
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UNITED STATES-EDUCATION-Plans to expand college aid for Caribbean immigrant youth
NEW YORK, CMC – A New York state legislature is seeking to expand college aid for young people from the Caribbean and other countries. The State’s Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has joined with his counterpart, Francisco Moya, and the State’s Higher Education Committee Chair, Deborah J. Glick, in introducing the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The…
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IMF says overall fiscal position in St. Kitts Nevis stronger than expected
WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says that despite a “difficult economic environment,” the overall fiscal position of St. Kitts and Nevis through the end of September last year was “stronger than expected.” After undertaking the fifth review under the Stand-By Arrangement (SBA), the Washington-based financial institution said on Wednesday that the latest update on the twin-island federation…
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Groups accuse immigration agents of receiving gifts for rounding up Caribbean nationals
NEW YORK, CMC – Two immigrant advocacy groups say they have found that United States Immigration border patrol agents who arrest Caribbean and other immigrants in New York State get gift cards, bonuses and extra vacations. The Families for Freedom and the New York University (NYU) Immigrant Rights Clinic said in a new report that the rewards include US$100 Home…
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IMF projects modest growth in the Caribbean
WASHINGTON, CMC – As the Caribbean reels from the global economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) predicts that growth will “strengthen gradually” this year. In an update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO), the Washington-based financial institution said the constraints on economic activity will start to ease this year. The IMF projected a 3.6 per cent growth in Latin…
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United States issues final regulations to combat Caribbean offshore tax evasion
WASHINGTON, CMC – The United States Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have issued what they describe as “comprehensive final regulations” to combat Caribbean and other offshore tax evasion. The departments said the reporting and withholding tax provisions, commonly known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), “target non-compliance by US taxpayers using foreign accounts.…
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Economist: Euro crisis could erupt again this year
DAVOS, Switzerland — Is the euro crisis over? A leading US economist says not by a long shot. Even as the head of the European Central Bank talked of “positive contagion” in the markets and predicted an economic recovery for the recession-hit eurozone later this year, economist Barry Eichengreen warned that the debt crisis that has shaken Europe to its…
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Stanford ex-CFO gets five-year prison sentence
HOUSTON (Reuters) – James Davis, the government’s top witness in convicted swindler Allen Stanford’s fraud trial, was sentenced today to five years in prison for his role in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. Davis, 64, who pleaded guilty in 2009 to three charges and could have been sentenced to 30 years, told the court in a breaking voice, “I am…
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US-based rating agency revises Jamaica’s economic outlook to stable
NEW YORK, CMC – Fitch Ratings has upgraded Jamaica’s economic outlook from negative to stable and also affirmed the island’s long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs). “Jamaica's ratings balance the sovereign's structural strengths, such as relatively high income per capita and social indicators, policy consensus and relatively strong institutional capacity against continued growth underperformance, high vulnerability to…
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Caribbean called on to safeguard economic growth
WASHINGTON CMC – The World Bank has urged the Caribbean and other developing countries to safeguard their economic growth, warning that the “road ahead remain bumpy.” In the Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report, released here on Wednesday, the Washington-based financial institution said four years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy “remains fragile and growth in…
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