News

(Trinidad Express) More than US$1 billion from the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund (HSF) is now in jeopardy as a result of the severe turbulence being experienced in financial markets and the recent downgrade of the US credit rating.

Governor of the Central Bank, Ewart Williams, made the disclosure while speaking at the launch of the Economic Bulletin report for July 2011 at the bank’s conference room in Port of Spain yesterday.

“We are now trying to calculate what has been the impact ...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, U.S. — A new report by Rabobank’s Food & Agribusiness Research and Advisory (FAR) department examines the exponential rise of Chinese investments in South America, particularly in Brazilian and Argentine agribusiness.

Highlights of the report, released on July 28, include:

• China’s investment projects in South American agriculture reflect a combination of factors: its interest in securing long-term food supplies and expanding its sourcing options; a move to diversify investment portfolios from U.S. treasuries into commodities; and a ...

After facing challenges concerning permission to land in Trinidad and Tobago, the newest regional airline, REDjet, finally took to the skies from Barbados and touched down at the Piarco International Airport yesterday afternoon.

Speaking at a press conference at the Grace Adams Suite at the Grantley Adams International Airport (GAIA) before the inaugural flight left Barbados, Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, stated that Government is quite happy to have this REDjet service between Barbados and Trinidad because Trinidad is a significant ...

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez sang, danced and said he intends to stay in power for two more decades as he celebrated his 57th birthday looking ahead to months of cancer treatment.

Chavez rallied a crowd of cheering supporters from the balcony of the presidential palace yesterday, waving a large Venezuelan flag and briefly wrapping himself in it. He said he expects to lose his hair soon as a result of chemotherapy and that a long ...

“We have stepped up our joint efforts to crack down on corruption, illegal weapons, narcotics traffickers and to create economic opportunities for young people,” Clinton said.

She was speaking at a press conference at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel here in Rose Hall following a meeting with Caribbean foreign ministers last night.

Clinton told reporters that the US$77 million allocated for the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative for fiscal year 2011/12 represents a 70 per cent increase over the previous year. “This support ...

He had grand plans on how to rebuild his broken land, but Haitian President Michel Martelly can’t even get over the first hurdle: forming a government.

Haiti’s parliament rejected Tuesday the new president’s pick for prime minister, Daniel Rouzier, sending Martelly back to the drawing board. Meanwhile, it has been more than six months since Haitians first went to the polls to vote for new leadership after last year’s devastating earthquake.

Martelly, a former pop star, nominated Rouzier, an entrepreneur who also ...

ROME, ITALY ­ — High and volatile agricultural commodity prices are likely to prevail for the rest of this year and into 2012 according to the latest analysis published June 7 in FAO’s biannual Food Outlook.

The report cites a sharp rundown on inventories and only modest overall production increases for the majority of crops as reasons for continuing strong prices.

The next few months will be critical in determining how the major crops will fare this year, the report noted. Although ...

Minister of Business Development & Tourism of Bermuda, Patrice Kimberly Minors, is among a stellar panel set to address the inaugural Invest Caribbean Power Forum in New York City today, Thursday, June 9th.

Minister Minors will join panelists Martin Mohabeer, the Guyana-born Managing Director of Spackman Group and CEO of Spackman Capital; W. Dave Dowrich, Vice President at Goldman Sachs, and David Brillembourg, CEO of the Brilla Group at the investment event being co-presented by digital media company Hard Beat Communications ...

Jamaica’s tourism competitiveness has dropped to number 65, eight less than it ranked in 2008, and five less than 2009, says findings by the World Economic Forum. The organisation ranked Jamaica 57th in 2008 in its travel and tourism competitiveness, and by 2009, the country dropped to 60th.

In a letter objecting to a proposed US$10 tax increase in the Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF), the International Air and Transport Association (IATA) assistant director, Cyriel Kronenburg, said, “Jamaica already has a problem ...

AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Mon. June 6, 2011: The cholera epidemic in Haiti is far from over, with a sharp increase in cases seen in the capital, Port-au-Prince, and outbreaks reported elsewhere in the country.

That’s the word from te international medical humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The organization says while the cholera epidemic in Haiti began to decline in February, it has not yet ended and since mid-May, medical teams in Port-au-Prince have witnessed an increase.

By the end of ...