January 4, 2012
Japanese Prime Minister Vows Tax Reforms in 2012
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says reforming the debt and disaster-stricken country's social security and tax system is the most important item on his 2012 legislative agenda. Speaking at a news conference Wednesday marking the start of…
January 4, 2012
High Level US Diplomat Begins Asia Tour
Senior U.S. diplomat Kurt Campbell has arrived in China, the first stop on a four-day tour that will also take him to South Korea and Japan. Campbell, the assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made no comments on…
January 4, 2012
New Jamaica PM to be sworn in on Thursday
The governor-general of Jamaica, Sir Patrick Allen, on Tuesday received the official results of last week’s general election from the director of elections, Orrette Fisher.This clears the way for prime minister designate, Portia Simpson Miller, to…
January 4, 2012
FAO examines high Caribbean food import bill
THE increasing Caribbean food import bill has led to several public concerns, including the impact it is having on domestic food production. This is one of the key findings of a study which the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) conducted on…
January 4, 2012
Sir Roland Saunders Wanted by Antigua Police
Sir Ronald Saunders is wanted by Antigua Police for questioning as criminal investigations into the multi-million dollar (IHI) fraud case progressing at what lawmen say is a steady pace. Notwithstanding the recent break in and theft of sensitive…
January 4, 2012
IXP for Dominica expected in January
Dominica is expected to have an internet exchange point (IXP) up and running in January, the third in the English-speaking Caribbean, Bernadette Lewis, secretary general of the Caribbean Telecoms Union (CTU), told BNamericas. At the end of May,…
January 4, 2012
Swiss bankers charged in $1.2 billion tax fraud
Three Swiss bankers have been charged with helping American taxpayers hide more than $1.2 billion from the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan announced Tuesday. Michael Berlinka, Urs Frei and Roger Keller face up to…
January 4, 2012
Ecuador appeals court rules against Chevron in oil case
An Ecuadorean appeals court has upheld a ruling that Chevron should pay damages totalling $18.2bn (£11.5bn) over Amazon oil pollution. Chevron said the judgement was "illegitimate" and "a fraud". Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was…
January 4, 2012
BP asks Halliburton to pay for Gulf of Mexico spill
Oil giant BP has asked its contractor Halliburton to pay for all costs and damages that arose from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The claims were made in a filing by BP's lawyer Don Haycraft in a US Federal court. BP and Halliburton are…
January 4, 2012
Chinese oil company Sinopec agrees $2.2bn US shale deal
Chinese oil firm Sinopec has agreed a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) deal with Devon Energy, giving it access to shale deposits in the US. Sinopec will get a one-third stake in five new shale projects, with the firms expecting to drill 125 wells this year. China…