Guyana issues warning to Venezuela in oil drilling dispute
Guyana has issued a warning to neighbouring Venezuela to refrain from interfering in offshore oil exploration efforts.
Venezuela has objected to the planned offshore exploration by US company Exxon.
In a press release issued late Saturday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the warning follows communication from Venezuela’s Foreign Ministry to the Country Manager of Esso Exploration and production Guyana Limited, objecting to the dispatch of a rig to proceed with the exploration of an oil well.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has requested that the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela desist from taking any actions that could only result in the stymieing of the development of Guyana and its people and that would be in contravention of international law,” the release stated.
Exxon Mobil plans to invest US$200 million in drilling offshore Guyana in the Liza field, which part of the Stabroek Block.
An oilrig, Deep Water Champion, has already left the United States for Guyana where it would begin work in mid-March.
Guyana says it has since informed the 15-nation Caribbean Community (CARICOM), Union of South American Nations (UNASUR), Organisation of American States (OAS), the Commonwealth and the United Nations Secretary General “about this recent action by Venezuela”.
Source-CMC
Dominican President says, 'no extension to alien regularization plan.'
President Danilo Medina said in a speech Friday that no foreign nation or international body may require the country to make sacrifices outside its constitutional and legal order, neither on migration nor on any other sovereign right.
"We are building a nation together, a country with true equality and social justice. A country without exclusion and without discrimination, but also an organized and tidy country, where law enforcement should prevail," the president highlighted.
During his state of the nation speech, marking the country's independence from Haiti, Medina recalled that for decades, the Dominican government dragged serious institutional and legal deficiencies in this issue, which were accumulating without being solved by previous governments.
He said the government decided to act responsibly and implement the most ambitious alien regularization plan ever seen, not only in the Dominican Republic, but throughout the continent.
Source-Dominican Today
Venezuela imposes limits on US diplomats
Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro has announced measures to limit the number of US diplomats working in the country.
President Maduro said he wanted a review and reduction of American diplomatic staff.
US citizens visiting the country would also need visas and there would be a list of politicians who would be banned from entry.
Mr Maduro said US meddling had forced him to adopt the new measures.
The preisdent said that the US government had 100 employees working in Venezuela whereas Venezuela had 17 based in the US.
Mr Maduro said Venezuela would be charging Americans the same rates for visa as those levied on Venezuelans wishing to visit the United States.
A list of banned politicians would include George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Bob Menendez and Marco Rubio.
Mr Maduro said these were all men who had violated human rights and encouraged terrorism, particularly in Iraq and Syria.
Earlier this month the United States imposed visa restrictions on unnamed Venezuelan officials it accused of human rights violations and corruption.
The move builds on sanctions imposed last year on Venezuelan officials alleged to have violated the rights of protesters during demonstrations that shook the country in the first six months of 2014.
The list of officials banned from entering the US was extended to include family members.
Huawei and LG unveil round smartwatches
LG and Huawei have unveiled a range of new smartwatches featuring metal-framed circular designs.
LG's Watch Urbane comes in two editions - a basic version powered by Android Wear, and a high-end one with a 4G chip and a new operating system.
The latter can make and answer calls and send texts without needing to be linked to a phone.
The Huawei Watch uses Android Wear, and has a bigger display made out of sapphire crystal.
To date, demand for computer-powered watches has been limited.
Only 720,000 watches powered by Google's Android Wear were shipped in 2014 despite considerable publicity for the launches of the Moto 360, Asus ZenWatch and Samsung Gear Live, according to market research firm Canalys.
But sales are expected to jump in 2015, in part because Apple is releasing its Watch in April alongside a big budget marketing campaign, which may benefit the wider sector.
The Watch Urbane models are LG's third and fourth smartwatches, and the Huawei Watch the Chinese firm's first.
"Huawei's market entry will accelerate price competition, but the increasingly crowded market, differentiation challenges and the looming Apple Watch will limit its opportunity," commented George Jijiashvili, wearables analyst at the tech consultancy CCS Insight.
The announcements were made on the eve of the Mobile World Congress trade fair in Barcelona.
Source-BBC
US Economic Growth Slower Than First Thought
U.S. economic growth was slower than first thought in the last few months of 2014.
Friday's report from the Commerce Department says the gross domestic product expanded at a 2.2 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter.
That is a bit slower than a previous estimate, and half the rate of the third quarter's expansion.
Commerce officials say GDP growth slowed because of less federal government spending and rising imports.
For all of 2014 the new analysis puts growth at 2.4 percent, which is a bit faster than the prior year.
White House economic advisor Jason Furman said the slower growth rate is due to temporary issues, and that the labor market and energy security continue to improve.
Economists from PNC bank say the weaker growth figures are due in part to a strong U.S. dollar and weak overseas demand which hurt U.S. exports.
Russians Pay Tribute to Slain Putin Critic
Thousands of people marched in central Moscow Sunday to mourn murdered opposition leader Boris Nemtsov.
Many of the marchers carried Russian flags and placards saying, "I am not afraid," in memory of the veteran liberal politician and vocal critic of President Vladimir Putin.
Organizers said 70,000 people joined the tribute to Nemtsov, but Moscow police described the crowd as much smaller, about 16,000.
Some of the marchers, young and old, carried pictures of the 55-year-old Nemtsov, who was shot dead on a bridge near the Kremlin while he was walking home from a restaurant Friday night.
Daniel Schearf, reporting from Moscow for the Voice of America, said some protesters, as they neared the bridge where Nemtsov was killed, briefly chanted, "Russia without Putin!"
The crowd was largely somber, but they did chant slogans, including "never forget, never forgive," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Sunday.
Russian authorities, usually slow to give permission for large opposition rallies, gave quick approval for the memorial march.
Nemtsov was to have led an anti-war and anti-Putin rally in Moscow Sunday. Instead, the memorial was planned for the man whom U.S. President Barack Obama called a "tireless advocate" for the rights of the Russian people.
Police are hunting for those responsible for shooting Nemtsov four times from a car while he and a female companion crossed a bridge over the Moscow River Friday night, just steps from the Kremlin. The woman was not hurt.
Source-VOA
Nigerian female bomb suspect beaten to death by mob
A mob beat a woman to death in the north-eastern Nigerian city of Bauchi in the belief that she was a suicide bomber, police and witnesses say.
The woman - said to be a teenager - was attacked when she refused to be screened at the entrance to a market. No explosives were found on her.
A series of suicide bombings in northern Nigeria has been blamed on Boko Haram militants.
It wants to enforce strict Islamic law across the country.
Witnesses say the mob put a tyre sprinkled with petrol over the woman's head and set it on fire after she was beaten.
Police say that she was dead before they arrived on the scene to rescue her and disperse the mob. No arrests were made.
The exact circumstances of her death are unclear. Some reports say that the dead woman was accompanied by another woman but other accounts say they she had a male escort.
An eyewitness told the AFP news agency that the woman came under suspicion when two bottles were found strapped to both sides of her waist after she refused to be frisked with a metal detector.
"When her hijab was raised over her head two bottles were found strapped to her waist and the crowd descended on the young woman," he said.
Police told the AP news agency that it was doubtful the woman was a bomber because she did not detonate any explosives when she was attacked.
Deputy Superintendent Mohammad Haruna described her as the victim of "mob action carried out by an irate crowd".
Another police source said that she may have been sent on a dummy run to see if it was possible to enter the bus station without being searched.
Boko Haram has taken to sending women on suicide missions, fuelling concern that its insurgency has entered a more ruthless phase.
Teenagers have been used to carry explosives into busy markets and bus stations, raising additional fears that some of Boko Haram's hundreds of kidnap victims may have been forced into carrying out bomb attacks.
This is done either by detonating explosives themselves or by carrying devices that are remotely triggered, police say.
February's presidential election has been postponed because of the unrest. The vote is now expected to take place on 28 March.
Source-BBC
South Sudan boys 'kidnapped to be child soldiers'
Hundreds of boys in South Sudan have been kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers, the United Nations children's agency says.
The figure is a big increase on the 89 child abductions reported by Unicef last month.
Their latest statement blamed a militia group allied to the government.
South Sudan is in a state of civil war with forces loyal to President Salva Kiir pitted against rebels led by former Vice-President Riek Machar.
The campaign group Human Rights Watch has accused both sides of using child soldiers.
Unicef said the boys were abducted by the Shilluk Militia, under the control of Johnson Oloni. The government has previously said it has no control over the group.
"We fear the children are going from the classroom to the front line," said Unicef's representative in South Sudan, Jonathan Veitch.
Witnesses report seeing children as young as 12 carrying guns, according to the UN.
The seizure of the boys happened in an area known as Wau Shilluk, in oil-rich Upper Nile state.
The UN believes 12,000 children were used as child soldiers across South Sudan last year.
About 1.5 million people have been displaced by the fighting in the country and 2.5 million are facing severe food shortages.
Source-BBC
Johnson Charles replaces Darren Bravo
Johnson Charles has been called up to the West Indies squad to replace the injured Darren Bravo, who was ruled out of the rest of the World Cup on Friday.
Batsman Bravo failed to recover from the hamstring injury he suffered during the Windies' opening Pool B win over Pakistan on 21 February.
Opener Charles, 26, has not played international cricket since last March.
He joins a West Indies side that faces defending World Cup champions India in their next match on 6 March in Perth.
So far, the Windies have lost to Ireland and South Africa, but beaten Pakistan and Zimbabwe.
Windies still confident as preparations start for India
West Indies arrived in Perth yesterday still smarting from Friday's heavy loss to South Africa but hoping to regroup ahead of next week's clash with reigning world champions India.
The Caribbean team has been their usual inconsistent selves, winning two and losing two of their four outings to date in the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Their latest defeat - a 257-run thrashing at the hands of South Africa - came as a big blow to their quarter-final hopes, but captain Jason Holder remained upbeat about his side's progression in the tournament.
"I wouldn't say it puts us onto the back foot. We still have two games left. We just need to take it one game at a time," Holder said.
"We have to deal with India next in Perth, and we're going to be aggressive. We're going to play our normal style of cricket. We obviously have areas to improve on in terms of our death bowling and still if we could try to get a few more dot balls into the middle overs, and I think once we do that we're still a force to be reckoned with in this competition.
"[Friday] was just the first off day with the bat. It's a daunting task trying to chase 400, and so you have to go hard initially trying to get the runs, and we just didn't get any momentum going today unfortunately."
South Africa piled up 408 for five off their 50 overs, with captain AB de Villiers smashing a historic 66-ball unbeaten 162.
West Indies have lost top order batsman Darren Bravo who has failed to recover from a hamstring injury sustained against Pakistan last Saturday, and will now return home.
Source-CMC