News

Washington, Dec 17 (EFE).- The leading Republican in the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday slammed President Barack Obama’s decision to resume full diplomatic ties with Communist-ruled Cuba as a “mindless” concession to a dictatorship. Obama’s decision to launch talks aimed at restoring full relations that were severed in 1961 has sparked outrage from House Speaker John Boehner and other Republican members ...

Statement by the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Ambassador Irwin LaRocqueThe Caribbean Community (CARICOM) welcomes the thawing of relations between the United States and Cuba and the move towards the re-establishment of diplomatic ties.  CARICOM has long been an advocate for the normalisation of these relations and has raised the issue repeatedly in its interaction with both parties. As ...

United Nations, Dec 17 (EFE).- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday that the United States’ decision to restore full diplomatic ties with Cuba is a “very positive” development. “The news is very positive,” Ban said at his year-end press conference, thanking U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuba’s head of state, Raul Castro, for “taking this very important step.” The United Nations “stands ready ...

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 ...