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Caribbean students killed in road accident

HAVANA, Cuba, CMC - At least five Caribbean Students studying in Cuba are dead and others were hospitalized after a truck slammed into the bus in which they were traveling.
According to media reports the students were returning home from a night of partying when crash took place.
The nationalities of the students are not yet known.
Hundreds of Caribbean nationals are pursuing university education in Cuba as a result of an agreement between several CARICOM member states and the Cuba Government. (Full article)

New study warns of the impact of sea level rises on coastal wetlands

WASHINGTON, CMC - A new World Bank study says a rise in sea levels by a meter from climate change could destroy more than 60 per cent of the Caribbean and the developing world’s coastal wetlands currently found at one meter or less elevation.
The study says this will lead to economic losses of about US$630 million annually.
The World Bank analysis considers a variety of types of coastal wetlands at risk in 76 countries and territories, using a number of databases and satellite maps.

Costly EU exit for Britain — Rompuy

ON, England (AFP) — EU president Herman van Rompuy warned yesterday that Britain will struggle to win support for its plans to renegotiate its membership of the European Union, and said that trying to exit the bloc could prove costly.
In a speech in London, Van Rompuy urged Britain to stay inside the 27-member group, saying it had a role to play in reforming the union and would have a stronger voice in world affairs than if it went it alone.

Chavez battling for life, says VP

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela's vice-president said yesterday that Hugo Chavez is still fighting for his life.
Nicolas Maduro, Chavez's self-appointed successor, said on television that his boss "is battling there for his health, for his life, and we're accompanying him".
The vice-president had characterised Chavez's condition similarly on December 20, saying the president "is fighting a great battle... for his life, for his health".

UNITED STATES-IMMIGRATION- US official in charge of deportations steps down

WASHINGTON, CMC – A top United States Department of Homeland Security official in charge of deportations has stepped down in the aftermath of a flap over the release of Caribbean and other detainees.
Gary Mead’s departure comes after the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on Monday released hundreds of immigrants from jails and detention centers across the country.

America must not ‘dictate’ to world, new defense chief says

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Decorated Vietnam veteran Chuck Hagel was sworn in as U.S. defense secretary yesterday after a bruising Senate confirmation battle, promising to renew old U.S. alliances and forge new ones without attempting to “dictate” to the world. Addressing Pentagon employees shortly after a small, closed-door swearing-in ceremony, Hagel spoke optimistically, if vaguely, about global challenges ahead and the importance of American leadership abroad. “We can’t dictate to the world. But we must engage the world.

Chavez’s return spurs doubts, speculation

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — President Hugo Chavez's continued silence in the week since his return to Venezuela has only deepened the mystery about his health. While tweets and letters have been issued in Chavez's name, and officials insist they have had long meetings with him, no photos have emerged and even an ally as close as Bolivian President Evo Morales was turned away without a bedside meeting. Some Venezuelans have questioned whether the socialist president is at a military hospital in Caracas at all, whether he even returned from Cuba or whether he is in fact still alive.

Canada focuses on Latin America

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Stabroek News - Last week the Canadian Foreign Minister, John Baird, made a diplomatic foray into Latin America, in a follow-up to, or probably reassessment of, Canada-Latin American relations since Prime Minister Stephen Harper visited the area in 2007. As part of Latin America, or the Americas as they are sometimes referred to in North America, Baird took in two countries that are part of the Cariforum system, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, in both of which Canada has maintained a substantial interest.

CARIBBEAN-MIGRANT-United States frees Caribbean detainees

WASHINGTON, CMC - In a move clearly designed to save money, the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency says it has released a number of Caribbean and other immigrant detainees from jails and detention centers across the country. ICE said that the move comes as automatic US federal budget cuts loom on March 1.

White House mulls new global food aid approach – send cash

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House may soon propose the biggest change in US food aid since the programmes were created during the Cold War – donating cash for hunger relief instead of shipping American-grown food thousands of miles to global trouble spots, say farm groups and charities. Reformers have argued for years that cash donations, the method used by most nations, are more efficient and speedier. But food donation has been the favoured US approach since the Food for Peace programme was enacted in 1954.

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