BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The main opposition Barbados Labour Party (BLP) has launched its campaign for the February 21 general elections promising voters strong leadership to deal with the island’s socio-economic problems over the next five years. BLP leader and former prime minister Owen Arthur Saturday night told party faithful that he was offering “a leadership that has been tried, leadership that has been tested and leadership that has been proven”.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – High Court judge Mira Dean-Armorer says she expects to deliver before March 29, a judgement in the case in which several people, including former government ministers and two financiers of the ruling United National Congress (UNC) are challenging the decision of the State to repeal legislation they said would have prevented them from facing fraud related charges stemming more than 10 years ago.
WASHINGTON, CMC – At least two Caribbean groups here have commended the German automobile company, Volkswagen, for its advertising campaign in recognizing what they describe as “the global impact of Jamaican culture.” While there have been some criticisms of the advertisement, Dr. Claire Nelson, the Jamaican-born president of the Washington-based Institute of Caribbean Studies (ICS) and the Caribbean Heritage Organization (CHO), said her groups have found the commercial “amusing and indeed, a fascinating example of subtlety in subliminal messaging”.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados - SO PRIME Minister Freundel Stuart has finally announced the date for next month’s general election. And he did so with a ‘scoop’ (as we say in the media) by upstaging all and sundry, including real and pretentious political gurus, in naming February 21 as the day when Barbadians will trek to polling booths to elect a new government for the next five years.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The government could decide to call it quits with the country’s second biggest contributor to the economy – the financial services sector. Experts have previously warned the sector is under severe threat, but it’s the first time the government has admitted it might not be worth the fight. Finance Minister Harold Lovell said a review would be launched shortly.
NASSAU, Bahamas - A judge in The Bahamas says that underground gambling businesses on the islands can remain open pending the outcome of a legal battle. Wednesday's injunction came two days after voters rejected a referendum to legalise underground gambling operations known as "web shops", where Bahamians bet on numbers in televised US lotteries. Lawyer Wayne Munroe says he and other attorneys representing the gambling houses are challenging the constitutionality of the country's Lotteries and Gaming Act.
ST JOHN'S, Antigua, CMC - The opposition Antigua and Barbuda Labour Party (ALP) has expressed concern about the stance being taken by the Baldwin Spencer led administration concerning the Internet Gaming Dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
In a statement on Thursday, ALP Leader, Gaston Browne said the country is on a collision course with the United States.
ST JOHN’S, Antigua – General Counsel for the office of United States Trade Representative (USTR) Timothy Reif is warning that the United States “cannot” allow the World Trade Organisation’s decision in the online gaming dispute to be used as a tool for “piracy” by Antigua & Barbuda.
“We, the US government, obliviously cannot allow any WTO decision to be distorted into a license for piracy,” the USTR attorney told OBSERVER Media in an exclusive interview yesterday.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Caribbean countries will be automatically alerted in the event of any major differences in sea level rise or major displacements due to earthquakes.
Acting Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU), Dr. Lorna Inniss, speaking at the launch of Caribe Wave 2013, said the system was important given the fact that tsunamis were waves that travelled between and among countries.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - THE female immigration officer in Barbados who is accused of 'finger raping' Jamaican Shanique Myrie will now have to testify in a suit brought by Myrie against the Barbadian Government. The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday ruled that a statement be taken from the officer by Roger Forde, Queen's Counsel, who is representing the Government of Barbados in the case, according to Myrie's attorney Michelle Brown. The CCJ's ruling follows an application by Myrie for the woman to give evidence.