ASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas government Tuesday confirmed that 13 Cuban nationals had been detained by the Defence Force after they were picked up in territorial waters on Monday night.
Foreign Affairs Minister Frederick Mitchell in a brief statement said that the “illegal migrants are to be transported to Nassau for processing before their return to Cuba”.
KINGSTON, Jamaica - WE share United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's view that the Syrian crisis represents the "biggest challenge to peace and security in the world" today.
Anyone who doubts the veracity of that analysis need only examine what has happened in the two-and-a-half years since the Syrian people revolted against the repressive Bashar al-Assad regime on the wave of the Arab spring.
UNITED NATIONS -- Delivering a harsh indictment of U.S. cyber-surveillance, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Tuesday called on the United Nations to get involved with helping nations safeguard themselves from cyber-snooping by other countries. “Information and telecommunication technologies cannot be the new battlefield between states,” said Rousseff, who delivered the opening address at the 68th U.N. General Assembly.
NASSAU, Bahamas, CMC – The Bahamas government says legal proceedings against people involved in the abuse of Cuban detainees here will begin “imminently”.
National Security Minister Bernard J. Nottage said that the investigations into the allegations of abuse of the Cuban detainees at the Detention Center, conducted by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF), had been completed, “and that proceedings under the Defence Act against the persons implicated in the incident will commence imminently.
ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada, CMC - Winston Frederick, the former deputy speaker of the Grenada parliament died at the General Hospital here on Tuesday night. The cause of death was not disclosed. He was in his late 70s.
Frederick, who served as a legislator from 1990-95, resigned from the Grenada United Labour Party (GULP) which he said, was suffering “from a virus and as it is now the party can be considered dead”.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Barbados Tuesday announced plans to establish a national oil spill contingency fund.
Addressing the start of a two-day regional workshop on the International Liability Compensatory Regimes for Pollution Damage, acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of the Environment and Drainage, Edison Alleyne, said that the Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Centre for the Wider Caribbean (REMPEITC-Caribe) has offered to assist Barbados the Barbados National Oil Spill Response Committee in the establishment of the fund.
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, CMC – The small opposition Lucian Peoples Movement (LPM) is calling on the government to ban gaming facilities and slot machines which it claims are having a destabilising effect on the lives of St. Lucians.
The LPM has accused both the ruling St. Lucia Labour Party (SLP) and the main opposition United Workers Party (UWP) of hypocrisy in dealing with the situation.
ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government has warned it would move against people setting up illegal websites to promote the island’s Citizenship Investment Programme (CIP).
Attorney General Justin Simon told Parliament that the Baldwin Spencer administration is in the process of building its own website to promote the CIP that the government hopes will, within three years attract 1,800 new citizens or 450 families and generate US$550 million by offering citizenship in return for investment or a direct financial contribution.
ROSEAU, Dominica, CMC – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says a two-day geothermal conference will provide Dominica with an opportunity to secure funding for its geothermal energy development.
“It will be an opportunity to share with potential partners and current partners about the prospects we have and what will be needed to see the implementation of the geothermal project. It is important that we share this information with our partners,” Skerrit said of the two-day conference that begins on Thursday.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - Former New York police commissioner William “Bill” Joseph Bratton is expected to arrive in T&T in November to conduct a “diagnostic test” of the Police Service to determine the root cause of its problems and find a way forward for a more efficient organisation and ultimately a safer country. Emphasis would also be placed on immediately rooting out rogue officers rather than having them remain in the service, sometimes for years, on suspension with full pay before their matters are tried and completed.