Grenada minister calls for high level regional air safety
Caribbean civil aviation officials are being encouraged to maintain a high level of air safety and security. Doing so is in the interest of citizens and visitors to the region, Grenada’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister told a meeting in St George’s of the Caribbean Aviation Safety and Security Oversight System (CASSOS).
“The issue of safety of our citizens and visitors cannot be over emphasized,” Peter David said at the fifth meeting of the board of directors of CASSOS in Grand Anse.
Among regional and international groups represented at the one-week meeting, which ended Friday, were the Federal Aviation Administration and the Transportation Security Administration of the United States; the Caribbean Community (CARICOM); the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA); and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
CASSOS, David said, has a critical role to play in the Caribbean.
“Your mandate of assisting State-parties in meeting their obligations under the Chicago Convention and achieving and maintaining full compliance with the ICAO’s standards and procedures, as well as the harmonization of regulations, are critically important responsibilities,” the Grenada minister stressed.
“Safety and security in the civil aviation industry,’’ he added, “are an international concern and should be even more so to us in this region, given our heavy dependence on the tourism sector.”
David warned that “the failure of our airports to comply with established standards by ICAO can result in aircraft refusing to operate in our destinations. This will certainly seriously impact the number of visitors coming to our shores. Additionally, it takes only one accident in our region to devastate our tourism sector.”
In the context of the global economic crisis, and with difficulties in the production and export of agricultural crops in the region, “tourism has become our number one income generator. It is therefore critical, ladies and gentlemen, to do all that is necessary to ensure that we continue to maintain air safety and security,” David said.
Grenada and other countries in the OECS sub-region are represented at CASSOS through the ECCAA.
The Grenadian Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister said CASSOS and ECCAA must continue to coexist.
“ECCAA is one of the success stories of what regional unity and co-operation can achieve,” David said. “Over the years, ECCAA has provided advice and safety, security and regulatory oversight to OECS governments on civil aviation matters. They would be expected to play an even greater role as we move forward to full economic integration. It is in our best interest to ensure the integrity and effectiveness of ECCAA is preserved.”
The minister said that, while there have been suggestions in some quarters about the amalgamation of ECCAA into CASSOS, he believes that “both organizations have very important roles to play and should be kept separately at this time.”
He made reference to CARICOM and the OECS, where each functions “independently’’ but “effectively” collaborates.
“We must be conscious of the fact that while we are small states in a common region, the OECS has its very own peculiar circumstances,” said David. “CASSOS and ECCAA must, therefore, collaborate and work closely together.”
No decision yet by Jamaican government on Digicel/Claro deal
Minister with responsibility for Information, Telecommunication and Special Projects, Daryl Vaz, said the Jamaican government has not yet made a decision on the proposed deal between Digicel and Claro Jamaica.
“There have been a number of meetings internally (in) which the Prime Minister himself has been involved. The Budget has kind of intervened and the prime minister speaks early next week (May 10), so I think that it will be something that will be followed up and dealt with in due course in terms of a decision, but it is definitely on the priority list,” Vaz said.
The minister was responding to questions posed regarding the deal during a May 4 post-Cabinet press briefing.
Digicel recently announced that it had entered into an agreement with América Móvil to acquire its Claro business in Jamaica, and to sell to América Móvil its businesses in Honduras and El Salvador.
Obama: Raid Was 'Longest 40 Minutes'
U.S. President Barack Obama says he ordered the raid against al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden after deciding that the risks were outweighed by the possibility of "finally getting our man."
Mr. Obama said during a broadcast interview on CBS's 60 Minutes Sunday that his number one concern was for the commandos, and that he did not lose sleep over the possibility that bin Laden might be killed. The president said the raid was "the longest 40 minutes" of his life, with the possible exception of when his daughter Sasha became sick with meningitis when she was three months old.
Mr. Obama said anyone who questions whether the terrorist leader did not deserve his fate "needs to have their head examined."
He said it remains unclear whether Pakistan's government was aware of bin Laden's presence in the country. He said it was clear bin Laden had "some sort of support network" inside Pakistan to be able to live in such a large compound for five to six years. But he did not accuse Pakistani officials of harboring the world's most sought-after terrorist.
In another broadcast interview earlier Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, a senior U.S. administration official said that despite bin Laden's death, the terrorist threat from al-Qaida continues.
National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said the United States can not consider al-Qaida to be "strategically defeated." But he described removing bin Laden as a "really important milestone" in taking down the terrorist organization.
Donilon said the extent of the materials seized from bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, during the overnight raid by U.S. forces amounted to the largest cache of terrorist intelligence ever gathered, what he described as a "treasure trove" of data.
On Saturday, the U.S. released several videos seized by U.S. forces when they raided bin Laden's Pakistani hideout and killed him. An intelligence official told reporters the videos, computer drives and other materials showed that bin Laden was "far from a figurehead," but was an active player in al-Qaida's operation.
Bin Laden seemed particularly concerned about how he presented himself to the world. One video showed bin Laden intently watching television newscasts about himself.
In that video, his unkempt beard was streaked gray. But in another, he had apparently dyed his beard black and neatly trimmed it for the filming of a propaganda video.
U.S. officials have been searching through seized items in hopes of learning what plans al-Qaida had for future attacks and where other al-Qaida officials are living.
Security Advisor Donilon says deputy al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri was not anywhere near bin Laden when he was killed. The search for him continues.
Afghan, NATO Troops Try to Eliminate Taliban Holdouts in Kandahar City
Afghan officials say government troops backed by NATO forces are close to eliminating a cell of Taliban fighters who launched attacks on government buildings in the southern city of Kandahar on Saturday.
Occasional gunfire erupted in Kandahar Sunday as Afghan soldiers surrounded several insurgents who were holed up in a building near the local headquarters of Afghanistan's intelligence agency. Afghan authorities said almost all of the government buildings attacked by the Taliban the previous day have been cleared. Streets in Kandahar remained deserted.
Taliban fighters armed with guns, rocket-propelled grenades and suicide vests began the assault with attacks on the office of Kandahar's governor, police buildings and the intelligence agency. It was the biggest operation by the Taliban since it launched an annual springtime offensive against the Afghan government and coalition forces last month.
Afghan officials say at least 20 Taliban fighters have been killed in the assault on the group's birthplace and former stronghold, including eight suicide bombers who blew themselves up. The assailants have killed four people and wounded more than 40 others, including Afghan civilians and security personnel. Four insurgents also have been captured.
Authorities say most of the insurgents who raided Kandahar were among hundreds who escaped from the city's main Sarposa prison late last month by sneaking through a tunnel dug by fighters on the outside.
The Taliban said Saturday's attacks were planned for weeks and involved more than 100 fighters. The group has been known to exaggerate the scale of its operations.
In another development, the Afghan government is accusing the Taliban of recruiting Pakistani children to carry out suicide bombings in Afghanistan. It says Afghan authorities recently detained four Pakistani boys who crossed into Afghanistan and confessed to being trained in suicide attacks by Taliban militants.
The Taliban denied the allegation. In a statement Sunday, the group said its regulations forbid boys who have not grown beards from spending time in Taliban residential and military compounds. The Taliban also accused the Afghan security forces of recruiting underage boys to their ranks,
Meanwhile, the NATO mission in Afghanistan says a combined Afghan and coalition force killed one insurgent in an operation Saturday in the northern province of Baghlan.
Syrian Forces Raid More Cities: Rights Groups
Syrian rights groups say security forces have stormed at least three more cities, detaining more than 200 people in the coastal city of Banias and killing a young boy in the central city of Homs.
The detentions in Banias, including the arrest of a 10-year-old child, come a day after troops killed six people in the sealed-off city. Witnesses say at least 25 tanks are patrolling the city of about 50,000 people to quell anti-government protests.
In Homs, activists say troops killed a 12-year-old boy while charging into several of the city's districts.
Witnesses say authorities have cut electricity and communications in both cities. Banias and Homs have served as hubs of protests against President Bashar al-Assad, who launched a military crackdown on opposition demonstrations.
The flashpoint city of Daraa was the first target of the government's military crackdown. The military said Thursday it had “carried out its mission in detaining terrorists” in Daraa and restored calm in the city.
However, residents said tanks, troops and snipers still were restricting their movement.
Elsewhere Sunday, residents of the southern town of Tafas say they heard gunfire as Syrian forces swept in to make arrests.
Rights groups say at least 600 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on nationwide anti-government unrest. They say as many as 8,000 people are either missing or detained.
Tropical Storm Slams Eastern Philippines
Tropical storm Aere slammed into the eastern Philippines early Sunday, bringing torrential rains and landslides that have killed at least nine people and forced thousands of others to flee their homes.
The Philippines' state weather bureau , reporting late Sunday, said the storm made landfall on the island of Catanduanes and was moving northwest at 15 kilometers an hour toward the main island of Luzon and the capital, Manila. Maximum sustained winds of 85 kilometers an hour were reported, as the storm flooded roadways, wrecked homes, forced flight cancellations and spread havoc over a wide area.
A spokesman says Philippine President Benigno Aquino delayed his departure from a regional summit in Indonesia until Monday, to avoid the weather disturbance.
The Philippines is regularly battered by tropical storms that form over the western Pacific and move eastward.
US Adds More Jobs Than Expected
President Barack Obama says the U.S. economy is recovering, after the nation added more jobs than expected in April.
The government jobs report released Friday shows a net gain of 244,000 jobs in the United States last month, better than economists had predicted.
President Obama told factory workers in Indianapolis, Indiana the U.S. private sector has gained jobs every month for more than a year.
"That means over the last 14 months -- in just a little bit over a year -- we have added more than two million jobs in the private sector," the president said.
The unemployment rate edged higher, from 8.8 percent in March to 9.0 percent in April, largely because people who had given up looking for work were resuming their job search.
The president said the economy is moving in the right direction, despite what he called strong headwinds such as rising gasoline prices.
"We have got high gas prices that have been eating away at your paychecks, and that is a headwind that we have got to confront," he said. "You have got the earthquake in Japan that has had an effect on manufacturing here."
Mr. Obama said there will always be ups and downs as the country comes out of a recession, but he said he remains encouraged about America’s economic future.
"But the fact is that we are still making progress. And that proves how resilient the American economy is, and how resilient the American worker is, and that we can take a hit and we can keep on going forward. That is exactly what we are doing," he said.
Not counting job cuts by local, state and federal governments, the U.S. economy generated 268,000 new jobs in April, the most since February 2006.
It was the third straight month that more than 200,000 jobs were created. And the job gains in February and March were revised upward.
However, 13.7 million Americans were still out of work last month, almost double the number in 2007, before the recession started.
Overall, though, the jobs figures indicate that businesses are confident in the economy and willing to hire, despite slow growth early in the year and the steep rise in energy costs.
US Stocks Close Higher
U.S. stock indexes advanced on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose four-tenths of a percent to close at 12,639. The S&P 500 moved up four-tenths of a percent to end at 1,340 while the NASDAQ jumped nearly half a percent to 2,828.
Stocks ended higher in Europe. London's Financial Times index closed up one percent to finish at 5,977. The CAC-40 index in Paris advanced 1.3 percent to close at 4,058. The DAX index in Frankfurt ended up 1.6 percent to finish the day's trading at 7,492.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei index dropped 1.5 percent to finish at 9,859. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index lost four-tenths of a percent to end at 23,159.
The price of gold was up more than $18 to trade at $1,492.68 an ounce.
The dollar was higher against the euro and the yen
Obama Salutes Troops From bin Laden Operation
President Barack Obama has met behind closed doors with some of the secret special operations forces who killed Osama bin Laden. The president Friday thanked the units who carried out the operation against the leader of the al-Qaida terror network.
At the Fort Campbell Army installation in Kentucky, President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden congratulated the troops involved in Sunday’s dangerous operation in Pakistan.
They held a private meeting with the Navy SEAL commandos and Army helicopter pilots on the assault team who raided Osama bin Laden’s compound and killed the al-Qaida leader.
Mr. Obama told them, "Job well done."
The president later carried the same message to hundreds of cheering soldiers at a nearby hangar. "I came here for a simple reason to say thank you on behalf of America. This has been a historic week in the life of our nation," he said.
Fort Campbell has sustained heavy losses in the nearly 10-year war in Afghanistan. Mr. Obama has drawn about 100,000 troops out of Iraq and has sent tens of thousands more into Afghanistan. He told the soldiers sending them into harm’s way was the toughest decision he made as commander-in-chief, and he did not make it lightly.
The president thanked everyone who helped to eliminate the threat posed by bin Laden. "Thanks to the incredible skill and courage of countless individuals, intelligence, military over many years, the terrorist leader who struck our nation on 9-11 will never threaten America again," he said.
Mr. Obama said the killing of Osama bin Laden was a step toward ridding the United States and the world of the threat al-Qaida poses. "Most of all, we are making progress in our major goal, our central goal in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and that is disrupting and dismantling, and we are going to ultimately defeat al-Qaida," he said.
The president called the killing of bin Laden one of the most successful intelligence and military operations in America’s history.
However, he pointed out that the war against al-Qaida and terrorism in general continues.
US Targeted al-Qaida Militant in Yemen
Western news organizations say the U.S. launched a drone strike in Yemen that targeted a radical U.S.-born cleric with al-Qaida links.
The news organizations on Friday quoted U.S. and Yemeni officials as saying Anwar al-Awlaki was the target of a Thursday strike in Yemen that killed two other suspected al-Qaida militants.
Authorities say Awlaki is a high-ranking member of the Yemen-based al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula terrorist group. He is wanted by the U.S. and Yemen for his suspected role in attacks that include the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner in 2009 and a deadly shooting spree at a U.S. military base in Texas the same year.
U.S. authorities believe Awlaki has been hiding in Yemen. The Yemeni government has pledged to help in tracking him down.
U.S. officials have not publicly commented on Thursday's missile strike or reports that Awlaki was the target. Yemeni officials said brothers Abdullah and Mosaad Mubarak died in Shabwa province, but the officials did not elaborate on how the brothers were killed.
As Yemen battles al-Qaida elements, its government is also dealing with anti-government unrest.
On Friday, Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh told thousands of supporters that he will resist calls to immediately resign.
President Saleh described his opponents as “outlaws,” while tens of thousands of anti-government demonstrators gathered nearby in the capital, Sana'a.
The dueling rallies crowded the streets following Muslim prayers after a Gulf Arab plan to end Yemen's political stalemate stalled in recent days.
The plan called for President Saleh to hand over power to a deputy and resign within 30 days of signing the initiative. It would have established a unity government that would have included opposition members.
Both the opposition and Mr. Saleh said last week that they agreed to the deal. But Mr. Saleh then said he would sign the deal only as leader of the ruling General People's Congress party, but not in his capacity as president, as required by the plan.
Officials with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are trying to revive the pact, but Saleh on Friday told a rally he would “strongly defend the constitution.”
At least 140 people have died in anti-government unrest since January.