Washington/Havana, Dec 17 (EFE).- A prisoner swap between Cuba and the United States, and the release of American contractor Alan Gross by Havana opened the way Wednesday for the two countries to end more than five decades of political animosity. U.S. President Barack Obama said in an address Wednesday that he was taking a series of steps to normalize relations with Cuba. Obama ...

San Juan, Dec 15 (EFE).- The Caribbean Development Bank has approved more than $120 million in loans to fund dozens of projects related to agriculture, energy and infrastructure.Trinidad and Tobago is to receive $40 million “to support Trinidad’s conversion of the fuel usage of vehicles in the transport sector from diesel and gasoline to Compressed Natural Gas,” the CDB said.The ...

Port-au-Prince, Dec 16 (EFE).- Haitian President Michel Martelly has met legislative, judicial and political leaders to discuss the appointment of a new prime minister and moves towards overcoming the current political crisis in the country.Martelly sat down Monday with Stevenson Jacques Thimoleon, speaker of the Lower House and Senate speaker Simon Dieuseul Desras for the talks.The president also received the ...

Geneva, Dec 16 (EFE).- Nearly 5,000 migrants lost their lives this year in hope of finding a better deal for themselves and their families in another country, making 2014 the deadliest year ever for migrants, according to a report released Tuesday by the International Organization for Migration (IOM).The report, which was made public two days ahead of International Migrants Day, ...

Quito, Dec 16 (EFE).- The head of the Firearms Team of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, or UNODC, said Tuesday in Quito that Latin America is the region that most uses guns to commit violent crimes.“Latin America is the region where guns are most frequently used to commit violent crimes,” Italy’s Simonetta Grassi told Efe, adding that the ...

A two-day Regional Monitoring and Evaluation Workshop to provide training in the use of  the CARICOM online Monitoring and Evaluation Tool began on Monday, 15 December 2014, at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.  The Caricom Headquarters said participants at the workshop include professionals from CARICOM Member States who work in the areas of youth development, education and crime prevention ...

 A new era for cricket in schools across the CARICOM region is about to begin with an innovative initiative from the CARICOM Secretariat called the “Pitch in Schools Project”, the Guyana-based Caribbean Community Headquarters said in a statement. The project will pioneer fresh innings for primary and secondary schools with a proven cricketing background, by providing them with an opportunity ...

The Bahamas’ Foreign Minister, Fred Mitchell on Tuesday denied that his country has been sending children born in the Bahamas to Haiti without birth certificates in the company of their Haitian parents who have been living their illegally. The issue has come to the fore following The Bahamas’ crackdown on migrants who are living and working there illegally. The claim ...

A former police corporal, who was wanted for the murder of a teenager at Agricola, Greater Georgetown was one of two persons shot and killed by his former colleagues during an armed robbery on the East Coast Demerara on Monday evening. Dead is 18699 Corporal Warren Blue who was charged for the murder of Shaquille Grant on September 11, 2012. ...

New York, Dec 15 (EFE).- The New York Times said Monday in an editorial that the Cuban economy is in a dilemma and facing the need to push economic reforms but having to deal with the resistance of the “old guard” and the danger that Havana could lose subsidies from Venezuela.The daily, in an editorial in its digital edition, provided ...