Haiti to pay mothers school incentives via mobile
The government in Haiti says it will begin transferring cash credits to mothers who send their children to school regularly.
Each mother will receive up to $20 (£13) a month and the transfers will be made via mobile phone.
The programme, called Ti Manman Cheri, or Dear Little Mother, aims to benefit initially a 100,000 families in the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Venezuela is providing $15m (£9.5m) for the first phase of the programme.
Other Latin American countries, such as Brazil and Mexico, have adopted schemes that provide benefits to families who keep their children in education.
But the Haitian government says this is the first such initiative to use mobile phones for cash transfers.
Prime minister Laurent Lamothe said the programme represented "a revolution in the country."
It will initially benefit families in four of the poorest areas of Port-au-Prince and should be extended to the rest of the country by the end of the year.
Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere.
It suffered huge human and material losses when it was hit by an earthquake in 2010.
Jamaica debt reduction imperative, says finance minister
Jamaica must work to reduce its debt, even as negotiations continue on a new standby arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), said Finance and Planning Minister, Dr Peter Phillips.
Opening the 2012/13 Budget Debate on Thursday in the House of Representatives, the finance minister said that as of the close of the 2011/2012 fiscal year, the country’s debt stood at $1.7 trillion (US$19.5 billion) or $600,000 (US$6,900) for every resident of Jamaica.
“Let me make it clear, this is Jamaica’s problem and not that of the IMF. The bottom line is that we must set our debt as measured by its GDP (gross domestic product) firmly on a downward trajectory,” he said.
He stated that with the international donors withholding grant assistance until a deal is worked out with the IMF, it is imperative that the country develops the comprehensive policies needed to put the country on a solid path to reducing the debt burden.
In the meantime, Phillips said the budget debate assumes special significance this year, as the country is celebrating its 50th anniversary of Independence.
He said the country has a lot to be proud of, “for no one can deny the genuine progress that our country has made over these 50 years”.
“We have sustained and deepened our democracy; we have created a more egalitarian social order by providing unprecedented access to education and training at all levels and the improvements to our healthcare system have made life expectancy in Jamaica comparable to that which obtains in the developed countries of the world. Our performance in housing construction and the modernisation of our physical infrastructure is a source of national pride,” Phillips stated.
Oil drilling company expects to start work in Bahamas by end of next year
The company hired by the Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC) to plan and execute an exploratory well in Bahamian waters says it believes it will be drilling by the end of next year.
Applied Drilling Technology International (ADTI), based in Texas, is a division of Transocean, one of the largest offshore drilling contractors in the world with thousands of employees and billions in annual revenue. While ADTI refers to itself as a turnkey operator, providing an all-inclusive approach to drilling, top executives revealed to Guardian Business that, in this case, they will only provide project management services for the Bahamas Petroleum Company.
"We're doing the pre-planning and design of the well. We design it with our people here, on our staff. Once the design is done, we move into the logistics planning stage," said Jess Richards, managing director at ADTI. "Once that is done, we will have a small team of engineers that will manage the day-to-day operations on the ground in The Bahamas. There will be supervisors on the rig. Between our base teams and offshore teams, you're looking at around 12 people."
While not wishing to comment on the geological makeup in The Bahamas, Richards said, "We believe there is an incentive to drill a well. We believe we will be drilling by the end of next year. We're working as directed by BPC. All indications that we have received show we're on track."
According to BPC's drilling licences, the company is required to spud an exploratory well by April of 2013. The ADTI director said his company, compared to other areas of the world, has not done a lot of exploration in the Caribbean. ADTI does manage wells all over the world, he added, especially in the Gulf of Mexico, which holds many similarities to Bahamian waters.
"It'll be a challenging well, but that's our forte," Richards told Guardian Business.
Research fellow at the Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy at the University of Texas, Jorge Pinon, called Transocean, and by extension ADTI, "a quality outfit with a high level of experience and expertise".
He said Repsol's failure to strike oil off the northern coast of Cuba was unfortunate. But he emphasized that this setback has nothing to do with prospects in The Bahamas.
"The fact Repsol came out dry is not an indication you also don't have other opportunities in Cuba or The Bahamas. So no, the fact it failed does not mean The Bahamas is not a geologically attractive area," said Pinon, who is also the former president of Amoco Oil in Mexico and Latin America.
The comments echo similar assurances made by Simon Potter this week, the CEO of BPC.
Potter said BPC's target represents an "entirely different structure". According to the company's 2012 annual report, also released this week, 3D seismic surveys have yielded very positive results.
It found that the basement is deeper than previously mapped, implying a thicker source rock.
An event that could more accurately predict the fortunes of BPC is another well being spearheaded by Zarubezhneft, a Russian operator in Cuba, immediately adjacent to BPC's "southern blocks".
Share price for BPC, listed on the London Stock Exchange, ended yesterday's trading down more than seven percent, finishing at 6.91 pence.
On Tuesday, Adrian Collins, non-executive chairman of BPC, acquired 200,000 ordinary shares in the company at a price of 7.12 pence each.
Shares have suffered so far this year, registering a marked decline compared to when they were worth as high as 16 pence earlier this year.
Courtesy of the Nassau Guardian
$65m heist trial put off in Jamaica
The case involving five men implicated in the robbery of $65 million from security guards in February last year has been put off until Thursday.
The case was called up today in the Gun Court.
The accused are Oral Chin, André Malcolm, Corriann Collins, Courtney Getten and Vernon Elliott, and they are charged with robbery with aggravation.
Chin and Malcolm were employed to the security company which was robbed.
It’s alleged that on February 3, last year employees of the security company were transporting money to a bank when a motor car bumped into their vehicle.
The security guards came out of their vehicle to assess the damage when armed men came out of the motor car and robbed them.
A report was made to the police and investigations led to the arrest of the five men.
The Crown is alleging that Chin was the mastermind behind the robbery.
Chin and Getten are on bail but Malcolm, Collins and Elliot were denied bail and remain in custody.
China and Japan to start direct yen-yuan trade in June
China will allow direct trading of the yuan and the Japanese yen, in a move aimed at promoting trade between Asia's two biggest economies.
This means the two countries will not be using the US dollar as an intermediary.
China, which sometimes has a tense relationship with Japan, is the country's biggest trading partner.
China's central bank said the China Foreign Exchange Trade system would launch this trade, starting next month.
"This is part of China's broader strategy to reduce dependence on the dollar," said Dariusz Kowalczyk from Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.
He added that the yen was chosen because of the large amount of trade between the two countries and that "this could lead to an expansion of trading with other currencies".
In December, the leaders of Japan and China agreed to mutually promote direct trading between the two currencies based on market principles.
The People's Bank of China said the move would help lower currency conversion costs and help facilitate bilateral trade and investment.
Japanese Finance Minister Jun Azumi told reporters that trading under a new regime will start in Tokyo and Shanghai on 1 June, according to Reuters News agency.
"By conducting transactions without using the third country's currency, it will bring merits of reducing transaction costs and lowering risks involved in settlements at financial institutions," said Mr Azumi.
"That will contribute to improve convenience of the both countries' currencies and reinvigorate the Tokyo market."
Japanese media are reporting that this is the first time China has let a major currency other than the US dollar trade directly with the yuan.
Spain funding situation 'very difficult', PM Rajoy says
Spain's prime minister has said it is "very difficult" for the country to get funds.
He was speaking amid growing fears about the Spanish banking sector, after Bankia asked the government for 19bn euros ($24bn, £15bn).
The premium investors demanded for holding Spain's 10-year bonds over its German equivalent rose to a record 5.05 percentage points.
But Mr Rajoy said the banking system did not need an international bailout.
"There will not be any [European] rescue for the Spanish banking system," he said, but he backed calls for the European rescue fund to be able to lend to banks directly.
Last week Bankia, which was formed from the merger of several struggling regional lenders, requested a 19bn-euro bailout, which was a much bigger amount of help than had been expected.
"We took the bull by the horns because the alternative was collapse," said Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, adding that Bankia customers' savings were now safer than ever.
It marks an effective nationalisation for the country's third-largest bank and has raised fears about how Spain plans to pay for it.
Rather than borrowing money on the open markets, potentially at high cost, there are reports that Madrid is considering giving Bankia government bonds. The bank would then use them as collateral for loans from the European Central Bank.
One analyst said this would amount to "an ECB bailout through the back door".
Some are concerned that by doing this, the government is not tackling the problem of the huge amount of bad property loans, estimated at 32bn euros, that Bankia is holding.
"It is not dealing with the problem of bad loans, it is just keeping them going," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at Forex.com. "It risks becoming a zombie bank," she told BBC News.
Bankia's shares lost almost a third of their value earlier, in their first trading session since the request for government help. They later closed down 13%.
There were also reports in a Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, that the government may have to inject an additional 30bn euros into three other nationalised banks; CatalunyaCaixa, NovacaixaGalicia and Banco de Valencia.
Mr Rajoy said he did not think his government's support for Bankia had influenced what is known as the risk premium, the difference between Spanish and German bond yields.
"There are major doubts over the eurozone and that makes the risk premium for some countries very high."
"That's why it would be a very good idea to deliver a clear message there's no going back for the euro," Mr Rajoy said.
The higher bond yields rise, the more expensive it is likely to be for governments to borrow money.
Kathleen Brooks said "it seems only a matter of time" until bond investors demanded an even greater rate of return than the record high of 6.7% reached in November 2011.
Elisabeth Afseth, an analyst at Investec, said that rising bond yields in certain parts of the eurozone would make it harder for those countries to straighten out their finances.
"If it goes on for much longer, it just adds to the burden of fiscal consolidation, she said.
"If a large part of that [the yield] is spent on paying a premium to borrow, it just makes it so much harder."
Italian government bond yields also ticked higher, rising to 5.87%.
Greece poll
Despite the worries about Spain, which caused its main share index to close 2% lower, other European stock markets started the day higher.
Greek shares rose 7% after a weekend poll in Greece showed growing support for a pro-austerity conservative party.
The poll suggested the New Democracy party could gain about a quarter of the votes, leaving it as the biggest party, albeit without overall control.
The next elections are scheduled for 17 June.
London, Paris and Frankfurt markets all rose at least 1% at the start of trading, before trimming gains to close flat on the day. Although both Germany and France have a public holiday on Monday, their equity markets remain open.
Canada to force striking rail workers back to work
The Canadian government has introduced legislation to force striking workers at Canadian Pacific Railway to go back to work.
Almost 5,000 staff took action at midnight last Wednesday, bringing traffic to a halt on 24,000 km (14,900 miles) of track.
The government decided to take action after talks stalled over the weekend.
Labour Minister, Lisa Raitt said the shutdown of Canadian Pacific's freight service was hurting the economy.
"The strike can't go on," Ms Raitt told parliament.
"We need to get the trains running again."
The legislation was introduced on Monday and the government hopes striking workers will be back to work on Thursday.
Canadian Pacific is the nation's second biggest railway firm and moves half of its potash, wheat and coal production.
Union leaders are unhappy over the company's contribution to staff pension plans.
China looks to boost private-sector investment in banks
China has opened up its banking system to private-sector investors, the latest move by Beijing aimed at underpinning economic growth.
Over the weekend, China said that private investors would have the same rights as state firms when trying to invest in domestic banks.
Despite China's strong economic growth, critics say expansion has been hampered by an inefficient banking sector.
China recently opened up other sectors such as energy and telecommunications.
The hope is that by attracting new foreign investment, China can stimulate a fresh and enduring phase of economic development.
Monopoly busting
The changes to the bank restrictions were announced by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, which was quoted as saying it wanted to boost lending and increase the efficiency and transparency of the banking market.
According to the new rules, private-sector investors will be allowed to purchase stakes in Chinese banks through a number of means including stock placements, new share subscriptions, equity transfers, and mergers and acquisitions.
The move comes after China's outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao said in April that the country needed to break up the monopoly of national banks, saying it was "too easy" for national banks to generate profits.
At the same time he complained that they were not lending enough.
One of the areas where China has seen problems has been in the way banks lend to small and medium-sized businesses.
This has seen an increase in the amount of illegal and non-sanctioned lending, a problem that policymakers have said they want to reduce.
Greek banks receive 18bn euros from bailout fund
Four Greek banks have received 18bn euros (£14.4bn, $22.6bn) as part of the nation's most recent bailout.
The funds will be divided between National Bank, Alpha, Eurobank and Piraeus Bank.
The money has been released by the European Financial Stability Fund to the Greek body in charge of distributing the funds.
It is part of Greece's second bailout that was signed-off by the European Union and the IMF in March.
That deal was for 130bn euros and hinged on an agreement by Europe's major banks and other financial institutions to write-off a large part of their loans to Greece.
A report on Monday said that National Bank, the biggest Greek lender, has received 7.43bn euros, the largest share of the new financing.
The report from the AFP news agency said that Piraeus bank will receive 4.7bn euros, Eurobank will get 3.97bn euros and Alpha is to be handed 1.9bn euros.
The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) is in charge of distributing that money.
The plan is for it to provide up to 50bn euros in return for shares in Greek banks.
Greek banks have been unable to raise money on the international markets so have been relying on the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Greece for funding.
Up to the end of January, Greek banks had borrowed 73bn euros from the ECB and 54bn euros from the Bank of Greece.
UN envoy Kofi Annan set to meet Syria's Bashar al-Assad
UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is due to hold talks on Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.
Mr Annan's plan to end the country's conflict has been overshadowed by international revulsion at Friday's massacre in the Houla region.
Mr Annan called the massacre "an appalling moment with profound consequences".
Survivors have told the BBC of their shock and fear as regime forces entered their homes and killed their families.
Mr Annan said the Syrian government has to take "bold steps" to show it is serious about peace.
He said his "message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun".
On Monday Mr Annan held talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem and the head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood.
Under Mr Annan's plan, both sides were to stop fighting on 12 April ahead of the deployment of monitors, and the government was to withdraw tanks and forces from civilian areas.
Mr Annan will be pressing Mr Assad to make good on those earlier promises, the BBC's Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon reports.
Much will depend on the position taken by Syria's main international ally and diplomatic protector, Russia, our correspondent adds.
Russia, which has twice blocked UN Security Council resolutions backing action against President Bashar al-Assad's regime, said on Monday that both sides bore responsibility for Friday's massacre.
"We are dealing with a situation in which both sides evidently had a hand in the deaths of innocent civilians," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Western leaders have expressed horror at the killings, and the UK, France and US have all begun moves to raise diplomatic pressure on the Assad government.
France is convening another meeting of the so-called Friends of Syria group, which Russia does not take part in.
"The murderous folly of the Damascus regime represents a threat for regional security and its leaders will have to answer for their acts," said President Francois Hollande's office.
'I saw bodies'
Survivors who spoke to the BBC, and the local commander of the Free Syrian Army, said the people who carried out the killings were militiamen - shabbiha - from nearby Alawite villages.
Their accounts cannot be confirmed, but they are consistent with one another, and also with the reports given by activist groups on the ground in the immediate aftermath of the massacres, our correspondent says.
Syrian leaders will be giving Kofi Annan a different account in their talks, he adds.
They still insist that what they admit was a massacre was the work of hundreds of armed rebels who massed in the area, and who carried out the killings in order to derail the peace process and provoke intervention by Nato.
Several witnesses said they hid or played dead to survive.
UN observers who visited the village of Taldou where the massacre happened said they had found evidence of shelling from government forces.
They also confirmed that some of the 108 victims - many of whom were children - had been killed by close-range gunfire or knife attacks.
"We were in the house, they went in, the shabbiha and security, they went in with Kalashnikovs and automatic rifles," survivor Rasha Abdul Razaq told the BBC.
"They took us to a room and hit my father on the head with the back of a rifle and shot him straight in the chin."
Of 20 family members and friends in the house at the time, she said only four had survived.
Another resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said he hid in the attic as gunmen took his family outside and shot them.
"I opened the door, and I saw bodies, I couldn't recognise my kids from my brothers. It was indescribable. I have three children, I lost three children," he said.