Dominican Republic election: Medina declares victory
The governing candidate in the Dominican Republic's presidential election, Danilo Medina, has declared victory.
Mr Medina won 51% of the vote, avoiding a run-off next month.
But the result is being contested by the opposition, which accuses the governing party of buying votes and other forms of fraud.
Mr Medina's main rival, former President Hipolito Mejia, received 47% of the ballot but has not yet conceded.
Rising crime, unemployment and inflation in the Caribbean country were the main issues of the campaign.
Mr Mejia's vice-presidential candidate, Luis Abinader, told the AP news agency that his party would present a report detailing irregularities in the vote.
"We are going to defend democracy. We are going to show the country what really happened," he said.
Mr Medina addressed a crowd of supporters in the Dominican Republic and promised to reduce inequality.
"I was not waging a political campaign, but building a dream," he said.
"Now we have the opportunity to build that dream, working for a Dominican Republic that is fair to all."
Opinion polls had suggested a tight race, with the outcome possibly decided by the ballots cast by Dominicans in the United States.
Economic growth
Dominican President Leonel Fernandez is constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
His Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) chose Mr Medina, a 60-year-old economist, as its candidate.
Mr Medina ran on a promise of boosting economic growth in the Caribbean country.
Mr Medina's opponent is an old rival - Mr Mejia is an experienced politician who defeated him in presidential elections in 2000.
Mr Mejia, 71, from the Dominican Revolutionary Party (PRD), campaigned under the slogan "Llego Papa" ("Here's Daddy").
He vowed to fight corruption and create jobs.
The Dominican Republic is one of the most popular tourist destinations in the Caribbean, and the economy has been growing steadily, at about 4.5% a year.
But more than 30% of its 10 million citizens still live below the poverty line, a problem both Mr Medina and Mr Mejia promised to address.
First tropical storm of the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season forms.
The National Hurricane Centre (NHC) is reporting that at 5 pm eastern time Tropical Storm Alberto was located near latitude 32.2 north longitude 77.7 west or about 140 miles east southeast of Charleston, South Carolina.
The 5 pm EDT NHC advisory indicates that maximum sustained winds are near 45 miles per hour with higher gusts and tropical storm force winds extend 45 miles mainly to the north of the system.
The estimated minimum central pressure for the system has dropped to 1007 mb.
Tropical Storm Alberto is the first named storm of the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season which begins on June 1st, 2012 however it poses no threat to the Caribbean.
According to Philip J. Klotzbach and William M. Gray of the Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University the 2012 Atlantic hurricane season is expected to see about ten named storms including four hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
Caribbean 360 News
CARICOM’s concerns to be heard
The CARICOM/Mexico Summit has been hailed as a most productive and beneficial meeting and the regional grouping has been given the assurance, that their concerns will be raised at the upcoming G20 Leaders’ Summit to be held in Mexico.
Suriname’s President and Chairman of CARICOM Desiré Bouterse made the comments during a press conference at the Hilton Hotel, following talks between the Mexican delegation led by President Felipe Calderon and Heads of State of the 15-member CARICOM grouping.
According to Bouterse, the two sides were able to agree on commitments in specific areas of co-operation among them transportation, energy, tourism, trade and investment. President Bouterse said that the regional grouping has been assured by the Mexican President that he will carry their message to the G20 when that meeting is held in his country, focusing in particular on such issues as the current criteria that is used to assign financial support for development among small island developing states. He further stated that the Caribbean Community is confident that Mexico fully understands their concerns as small island developing and middle
income countries and will be able to advocate forcefully on our behalf.
“CARICOM is also pleased that Mexico will lend us their experience and expertise in the further development of our tourism industry. Further we have agreed to share experiences and strategies in an effort to develop small and medium sized enterprises in the private sector,” he added.
The Chairman said that in addition to the aforementioned, the two sides have agreed to develop strategies to address the issues of transnational crime and citizen security and in that regard he said, they will be involved in the follow up activities identified by the plan of action developed during the 6th Summit of the Americas.
Meanwhile, he also announced that Mexico and CARICOM will also be working closely with Haiti in an effort to assist in the reconstruction process in that country.
PM calls for Mexico help in crime battle
The illicit drug trade, trafficking in illegal guns, gang violence, human trafficking and smuggling are all challenges facing the Caribbean, said Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar as she addressed the Second Caricom-Mexico Summit in Bridgetown, Barbados, yesterday.
She also raised concerns about cyber-crime, international terrorism, money laundering and the exploitation of women and children.
In a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister yesterday, Persad-Bissessar said these were “worrying trends in crime and security”.
Persad-Bissessar called on Heads of Government to emphasise the link between security and development and support action towards combating crime at all levels involving regional security institutions, and for “...international collaboration in advocating the use of crime prevention and management strategies, alongside the criminal justice approach to addressing the increase in criminal activity”.
She suggested regional leaders seek the support of Mexico in functional co-operation to counter the illicit trafficking of narcotics, as well as Mexico’s supporting role in the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI).
She also highlighted Caricom member states’ commitment to combat the trade of small arms and light weapons and support for the Arms Trade Treaty, noting Mexico’s advocacy for a robust legally binding treaty that matched Caricom position.
Persad-Bissessar also proposed Mexico support capacity building in polygraphing as an area of collaboration with Caricom, given that country’s institutional capacity and training experience.
Similarly, the call was made to seek Mexico’s support in resource mobilisation, sharing best practices in youth gangs and violence. She requested financial and technical support from Mexico for anti-money laundering interventions and combating the financing of terrorism.
Mexican President Felipe Calderón, in his contribution, also noted organised crime posed a significant challenge to the region and he reminded the meeting that Mexico at the sixth Summit of the Americas in Colombia had recommended the creation of a Hemispheric Scheme against Transnational Organised Crime.
Calderón also said greater free trade is a stimulus for growth and development, and that this is one of the issues Mexico will advocate for at the next G20 meeting in Mexico next month.
Thunder thunder hoooo!!!!!!, eliminates the LA Lakers
Russel West brook scored 28 points, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Oklahoma City Thunder surged ahead in the second half to beat Los Angeles 106-90 in Game 5 on Monday night and eliminate the Lakers from the playoffs.
The two All-Stars both bypassed their breaks in the second half and used the time they'd normally be resting to fuel the big run that put away the game and end the Lakers' season.
Westbrook had a pair of three-point plays during a 14-3 burst that put Oklahoma City ahead to stay late in the third quarter, and Durant hit two 3-pointers as the Thunder scored the first 10 points of the fourth to push their lead to 93-77.
Koybe Bryant scored 42 points for the Lakers.
The Thunder open the Western Conference finals on Sunday at top-seeded San Antonio.
After getting eliminated by Los Angeles in 2010 and Dallas in 2011 before both of those teams went on to win it all, the Thunder knocked both out on their way to the West finals for the second straight year.
The only other time the franchise made consecutive conference finals was from 1978-80, including Seattle's only NBA title in 1979.
Once there, they'll face the top-seeded Spurs, the only team other than the Lakers or Mavs to win the West in the past 13 years and currently riding an 18-game winning streak.
Rafael Nadal beats Novak Djokovic to win Italian Open
Rafael Nadal beat world number one Novak Djokovic in straight sets to win a record sixth Italian Open title.
The Spaniard won 7-5 6-3 in the final, which had been delayed by a day because of rain in Rome on Sunday, to return to second in the world rankings.
The duo swapped breaks midway through the first set before Nadal made the decisive breakthrough in the 11th game.
Nadal broke in the opening game of the second set and won the match when Djokovic double-faulted at match point.
The Serbian had enjoyed a run of seven successive victories over Nadal prior to last month's Monte Carlo Masters final but the Spaniard has now won their last two meetings.
Nadal said: "The mentality was there at the right time because I know to win matches against Novak you have to be at your limit all the time because he's pushing you at every moment.
"I think I was mentally strong enough to play very well at the important moments."
Nadal opened strongly but wasted two break points in Djokovic's opening service game.
However, he made amends in the fifth game, punishing a poor drop shot to take the initiative but a lacklustre service game allowed the defending champion to restore parity.
The turning point came in the 10th game when a Djokovic shot, that would have given him a set point, was called out by the line-judge, only for the umpire to over-rule the decision.
Nadal won the replayed point - and Djokovic received a warning from the umpire for smashing his racquet at the change of ends after the Spaniard broke to go 6-5 up.
Nadal served out the set before breaking again in the opening game of the second set and the Spaniard then saved six break points in his next two service games.
A wide backhand from Djokovic, who made 41 unforced errors, set up match point and he handed Nadal the title with a double fault.
Djokovic said: "I made a lot of unforced errors. In my opinion I don't think he played extremely well but I made a lot of errors that can't happen when you play against Nadal.
"I will go to Paris with a good level of confidence because I played a great week, especially the last two or three matches, so I hope for the best there."
England v West Indies: Hosts cruise home in Lord's Test
England wrapped up a five-wicket victory in the first Test as a stand of 132 between Alastair Cook and Ian Bell saw off an early West Indies charge.
When Jonathan Trott and Kevin Pietersen both went cheaply inside the first hour on the fifth day, a further 134 were needed and there was a genuine sense that an almighty upset might just come off.
But Cook's classy, unhurried 79 and Bell's 63 not out blunted the attack and then brought the target of 191 rapidly within reach as the shine went off the new ball.
Cook fell with just two needed but Bell punched away the winning runs alongside debutant Jonny Bairstow to seal victory midway through the afternoon session.
England will now take a 1-0 series lead into the second Test at Trent Bridge on Friday having been made to work far harder for the honour than almost all had expected.
With England resuming on 10-2 this morning - still 181 short of victory - West Indies came out in search of an early breakthrough, and found one when Trott pushed nervously at Kemar Roach and was caught at second slip for 13.
Pietersen marched in swinging his arms and began aggressively while Cook dropped anchor, the opener going 27 deliveries with just one scoring shot.
Pietersen pulled Shannon Gabriel through midwicket for four, but then tried to do the same to a fuller one next ball and succeeded only in edging behind for an inauspicious 13.
It left England 57-4 and thoughts began to turn to a similar run-chase at Lord's 12 years ago when England, needing 188 to beat a more illustrious West Indies side, had sunk deep into the mire before squeaking home by two wickets.
The difference here was the quality of the bowling. While that England line-up had to face Courtney Walsh and Curtly Ambrose, the current Caribbean quicks had neither the accuracy nor menace of their predecessors.
Runs came at pace, the pitch as flat as it had been all match and the ball doing nothing through the air once the shine had been dulled.
Marlon Samuels's gentle spin and Darren Sammy's medium pace could not match the threat of Roach's opening spell, and Cook and Bell were able to accumulate with increasing ease.
England scored 121 runs in the morning session, and with every boundary the initial pressure lifted a little more.
Cook was happy to cut and drive, while Bell displayed his usual extensive range of shots as they closed in rapidly after lunch.
Cook was disappointed to fall just short of the finishing line, looking to slap Sammy away for the match-winning boundary but edging to Kirk Edwards at gully.
It changed nothing. Bell clipped Samuels through midwicket for four and England were home.
To compound West Indies' misery, captain Sammy was fined 80% of his match fee for a slow over-rate and each of his players 40%.
Sharks wins two out of five m
A top score of 84 runs by Errion Charles helped the Sharks to win the second game of the five match KARE BBQ Joint (Restaurant) Sponsored Grand Turk Cricket Association Cricket series, which was played at the Parade Ground in Grand Turk on Saturday May 19th 2012. He got support from Darren Vaswani who contributed 40 to this score. In his attacking knock Charles hit four fours off Henry Saunders’s 3rd over out of a total of 13 fours and 2 sixes. These knocks took the Sharks to a total of 206 for 6 from 20 overs. Peter Quelch was the other leading contributor with 25 and Rohan Ash 17.
Saunders was the leading wicket taker with 2 wickets for 39 runs from his allotted 4 overs. Roxberg Simpson and Fergusson Williams took 1 wicket each.
In their chase the Dolphins could only manage 142 all out from 18 overs to lose by 67 runs. Earl Henry top scored with 28 runs batting at #11. Other leading contributors to this total were Harry Chawandi who scored 33, Jay Seecharam who with 24 and Sidney Garland 16 which included four boundaries. Captain of the Dolphins Rohan Ash took four wickets for 17 runs, Curtis Simmons 2 for 47 from 4 overs and Carlton Saunders 2 for 25 from 4 overs.
Both teams are now equal on 8 points each. The series continues on Sunday May 27th at the same venue. This is as a result of the Jags McCartney athletics which are set to take place on Saturday May 26th. All supporters are encouraged to come out and support the game.
Scores:
Sharks innings (20 overs max)
R. Ash LBW H. Saunders 17
M. Baptiste LBW H. Saunders 00
C. Simmons LBW b Simpson 10
D. Vaswani Not Out 40
C. Saunders Run Out 08
E. Charles LBW 84
S Matthews 02
J. Brooks 00
P. Quelch Not Out 25
Extras 20
Total for 6 wkts 206
Bowling O M R W
H. Saunders 4 0 33 2
R. Simpson 4 0 37 1
H Chandwani 4 0 40 1
J. Seecharam 3 0 36 0
A. Ogarro 3 0 42 0
F. Williams 2 0 18 1
Dolphins Innings
S Garland C Wk b. C. Simmons 16
A. Ogarro C C. Simmons b P Quelch 01
H. Chandwani C C. Simmons b C Saunders 22
H. Saunders C b C. Simmons 08
J. Seecharam LBW C. Saunders 24
R. Simpson b R. Ash 01
F Williams c & b Ash 05
J. Godet c W Quelch b Ash 00
J. Fraser b Ash 00
A. Hepburn c W. Quelch b Ash 01
E Henry Not Out 28
Extras 36
Total for 10 wkts 142
Bowling O M R W
C Simmons 4` 0 41 2
P Quelch 4 0 11 1
C Saunders 4 0 30 2
R. Ash 4 0 19 47
S. Matthews 1 0 11 0
E. Charles 1 0 11 1
Trinidad, OECS to talk CLICO
Prime Minister of St Kitts-Nevis Dr Denzil Douglas is hoping to meet with his Trinidad and Tobago counterpart next month to thrash out details of an agreement in relation to the CLICO debacle.
Douglas said he and other leaders in the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) had met with Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar at the Summit of the Americas in Colombia and had agreed that Trinidad would “definitely meet the commitments that were previously identified when Patrick Manning was in office”.
He said this needed to be clarified to some extent and consolidated.
The Manning administration had made efforts to establish a new insurance company, Newco, which was supposed to have brought together several investors, including Trinidad and Tobago with an investment of US$100 million and Barbados investing US$5 million, but that hit a snag following the change of government in Trinidad and Tobago in 2011.
Weak euro affects investments in China
While EU members are debating whether Greece will need to exit the eurozone or not, the impact of the weak euro has spread to Asian countries including China. People are starting to feel the volatility of forex markets both in investments as well as daily life.
One euro stood at about 8.075 yuan at a mid rate on May 21th, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trading System, part of China’s central bank. Although it had increased 487 basis points compared to the previous trading day, analysts said it was still far lower than the highest level of 8.300 seen at the beginning of May, which caused losses of financial products related to the euro.
Zhao Dapeng, analyst of Department of Financial Market of Huaxia Bank, said, "If the financial products are linked to European stocks, their risks are higher at present. I don’t think it’s a rational choice to buy such products now."
For investors involved in those products, they can’t expect too many returns these days. Data shows that most euro-related financial products due within the first half of the year won’t achieve the promised annualized rate of return. Some of them even had a zero yield rate so far.
Tan Yaling, head of China Forex Investment Research Institute said, "Forex financial products have different features compared to domestic products. For domestic products, we mainly focus on government policies. But forex financial products are more influenced by economic factors, as well as political and other factors."
The euro’s volatility however doesn’t only have unwelcome results. For Chinese consumers in Europe, their purchasing power has increased and they get offered some real discounts.
Meanwhile, analysts said the currency still stands a chance to regain its steam, and investors should be monitoring closely its moves in the coming months to look out for some real value.