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antigua-and-barbuda

Caribbean crime and Antigua

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - St. John’s Antigua- Last week, news broke that masked gunmen had robbed a group of cruise ship tourist in St Lucia. Apparently, a bus tour of the Soufriere Botanical Gardens turned into a nightmare scenario when their bus was hijacked by three masked men who proceed to threaten and frighten the tourists while robbing them of their valuables. This incident follows closely on the heels of another shocking incident in Barbados where two British tourists were shot. Like the St Lucian incident, this was a brazen act.

Minister calls for pooling of RSS Resources

St. John’s Antigua- National Security Minister Dr Errol Cort has suggested Regional Security Systems (RSS) member states pool resources to strengthen the RSS Air Wing to help clamp down on the burgeoning drug trade and influx of guns into the region. He told OBSERVER media, “I don’t believe that it would be useful at this point for individual RSS countries to try setting up their own aircraft capacity.

Boston bombings: resilience in the face of horror

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua - It is very difficult not to be impressed and humbled by the reaction of Bostonians to the bombings that ripped lives and limbs apart on their marathon day.
The scenes on Boston’s streets on Monday have echoes of things that happen with awful frequency on the streets of Syria or Iraq. Yet Boston’s poise, humanity and calm amid the shock are all the more noteworthy, because no one, rationally, could have prepared themselves for such an attack against such a target.

Historian expresses concern for cricket museum

ST JOHN’S, Antigua - A regional cricket historian has cautioned concerned groups in Antigua & Barbuda to revamp the cricket museum or risk having important artifacts wither away. Stephen Almandos of Trinidad & Tobago is referring to the former property of convicted fraudster Allen Stanford, the Sticky Wicket Cricket Museum/Hall of Fame, which tumbled along with the rest of the ex-billionaires empire.

ANTIGUA-ECONOMY-IMF approves funds for Antigua and Barbuda

WASHINGTON, CMC – The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it is making available more than US$10 million to Antigua and Barbuda after completing review of the island’s economic performance under a three-year Stand By Arrangement (SBA) indicating also that the economy is showing signs of gradual recovery after three years of being stagnant.
The IMF said it had also approved a waiver of non-observance of the continuous performance criterion on external arrears.

ANTIGUA-SECURITY-Government extends life of special task force on crime

crime ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, CMC – The Antigua and Barbuda government says it will extend by a further 90 days the operations of a special task force to deal with serious crimes, especially those that involved the use of firearms. National Security Minister Dr. Errol Cort said that notwithstanding the success of the force in recent days, “its task is still unfinished.

Bird slams late British PM

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – Former Antigua & Barbuda Prime Minister Lester Bird believes that the late Margaret Thatcher was most befitting of the tag “Iron Lady” – a name she got for the way she operated as Britain’s prime minister. He told OBSERVER Radio that while she influenced world politics significantly, Britain’s past PM was very instrumental in retaining apartheid in South Africa.

Former Premier leads tributes to Britain’s Iron Lady

HAMILTON, Bermuda, CMC -- Former Premier Sir John Swan has led the tributes to Margaret Thatcher, the "Iron Lady" of British politics who died on Monday aged 87 following a stroke, crediting her with helping Bermuda become a global force in business. Sir John, who led the now defunct United Bermuda Party as leader of this British Overseas Territory from 1982-1995, said Thatcher, who dominated British politics for two decades, gave him free rein to negotiate a 1986 tax treaty with the United States, which laid the foundations for the huge growth in international business.

Looking for Usain

ST JOHN’S, Antigua - There are many pathways to fame and fortune and sport is one of them. Truth be told, it is the road less travelled by many young people who really ought to consider it in the face of very few options. The Caribbean consists of countries, which by no stretch of the imagination can be considered as affluent. In almost every sphere of endeavour, we would be left in the dust, trailing behind those nations that are well endowed with the world’s goods – except in this one sphere called sports.

One LIAT plane grounded in engineers’ dispute

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – LIAT staff told OBSERVER media on Monday that an ongoing industrial dispute between the airlines engineers and management did not affect the airlines flights from the VC Bird International Airport.
A senior LIAT employee confirmed that on Monday at least one aircraft was grounded in Grenada because of the dispute.
An engineer told OBSERVER media engineers are angry that management has responded to the pilots’ demands for allowances while ignoring theirs.