April 15, 2012
Obama: ‘Drug legalisation not the answer to drug war’
US President Barack Obama has said that legalising drugs is not the answer to the problems caused by the trafficking of illegal narcotics in the Americas. Mr Obama told a gathering of leading executives in Colombia ahead of the Summit of the…
April 15, 2012
Cardi to revive Haiti’s agricultural sector
The Caribbean Agriculture and Research Development Institute (Cardi), through donor funding from Caricom, Australia, the Common Fund for Commodities and the European Union, has pledged to resuscitate Haiti’s struggling agriculture sector. The…
April 15, 2012
Peru troops free Shining Path hostages
The Peruvian government says a group of gas workers kidnapped by Shining Path rebels on Monday has been freed. Officials said hundreds of troops surrounded the rebels, forcing them into a hasty retreat, during which they left their captives…
April 15, 2012
Venezuela’s Chavez set for more Cuba cancer treatment
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has given a speech from the presidential palace in Caracas, the first since his latest round of treatment in Cuba for a malignant tumour. Mr Chavez, who was more than two hours late, told thousands of supporters…
April 15, 2012
Colombia’s Jose Antonio Ocampo exits World Bank race
Colombia's Jose Antonio Ocampo has pulled out of the race to be the next president of the World Bank. "It is clear that this is not based on the merits of the candidates but is a political exercise," he said. His comments referred to the likelihood…
April 15, 2012
Goldman Sachs fined $22m over flaws at weekly ‘huddles’
Goldman Sachs has been fined $22m (£13.8m) by US regulators to settle charges that some "top clients" may have been tipped off about stocks. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that the bank lacked policies to prevent leaks from…
April 15, 2012
Standard & Poor’s reaffirms UK’s AAA credit rating
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has reaffirmed its AAA credit rating for the UK, saying it believes the economy is "wealthy, open and diversified". S&P also confirmed a stable outlook, as it expects the government to implement the bulk of its…
April 15, 2012
Shares hit by worries over Spain
Stock markets have fallen in the US and Europe, led by bank shares, as worries over Spain re-emerged. The FTSE 100 dropped 1%, while Spain's Ibex fell 3.6% and the Dow Jones in New York closed down 1%. Markets have been spooked by the rising…
April 15, 2012
Bank bonus clampdown threatened by European Commission
Europe's Internal Markets Commissioner, Michel Barnier, has said that "tougher action" is needed to curb bank bonuses. He said that he was "seriously worried" by the proportion of pay awarded as bonuses in some countries, and said it encouraged…
April 15, 2012
Regional health officials to discuss two studies on HIV/AIDS in the Caribbean
Caribbean health officials meet here next week to examine the findings of two studies to ascertain the quantity and quality of available gender specific HIV services for key populations in the region. The studies were commissioned by the Pan…