Visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in Port of Spain Sunday to work with Suriname and Barbados to expand his country's cooperation with the two Caribbean nations. Xi, in a state visit to Trinidad and Tobago, made the remarks during separate meetings with Surinamese President Desi Bouterse and Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart. In talks with Bouterse, Xi said Suriname hosts the most overseas Chinese in the Caribbean, and the Chinese culture has become an important part of Suriname's pluralistic culture.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – China’s President Xi Jingping arrives in Trinidad on Friday for a three-day visit during which he will meet with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders. The visit follows that of the United States Vice President Joe Biden earlier this week and according to a Chinese Embassy statement it is to “further increase political trust and consolidate friendship and cooperation with the entire region”.

BEIJING — The devastating earthquake that struck southwest China over the weekend has drawn a flood of donations from across the country.
But in contrast to the pattern after a major quake in the same region five years ago, those eager to bolster relief efforts are looking to donate to private charity organizations, not to official groups that now have a reputation for corruption.

PANAMA CITY, Panama, CMC, CMC – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has launched the second call for proposals for civil society organizations to carry out activities focused on poverty reduction and social inclusion and development in Latin America and the Caribbean. The announcement was made here by the IDB’s Executive Director for the Government of Japan, Yasuhiro Atsumi, at the IDB Annual Meeting, during the Civil Society in Public-Private Partnerships: toward sustainable, inclusive development session, attended by about 200 delegates.

MOSCOW — A leak of details about offshore bank accounts belonging to Russian businesspeople and the wife of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov threatens to embarrass President Vladimir Putin, who has vowed to crack down on the use of tax havens.
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, a network of 160 journalists around the world, has started releasing its findings from a 15-month investigation into offshore money.