VP Digital

Trinidad Roman Catholics Against Death Penalty

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Dec 14, CMC – The head of the Roman Catholic Church here, Archbishop Joseph Harris, is maintaining that the church is against the imposition of the death penalty, saying there could be no good reason for killing someone. Speaking on a radio station here after a Roman Catholic priest, Father Ian Taylor, had earlier this week advocated the need to impose the death penalty in a bid to stem the rising murder rate here, Archbishop Harris said “Pope Francis has said…it (death penalty) is an offence against human dignity and the values of life and therefore it is i

Venezuela For Mercosur Talks

Image of Venezuela’s foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez

VENEZUELA’S foreign minister, Delcy Rodriguez, traveled to Argentina to attend yesterday’s meeting of foreign ministers of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). Rodriguez said that despite the illegal manoeuvers promoted by the governments of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, to illegitimately exclude Venezuela from the regional bloc, the nation will exercise its full right to participate as a State Party to the international body.

UWI Gender Studies Director Speaks at UK Forum Today

UNIVERSITY Director of The University of the West Indies’ (The UWI) Institute for Gender and Development Studies (IGDS), Professor Verene Shepherd will today address more than 500 parliamentarians at the inaugural Commonwealth Parliamentary Association’s (CPA) Regional Hot Topics (RHT). The forum is carded for the Park Plaza Riverbank Hotel in London from 2:00 p. m to 5:00 p.m. (UK time).

C’bean Lawmaker Leads Fight for Garvey Pardon

NEW YORK, Dec 14, CMC – Caribbean American Congresswoman Yvette D. Clarke has taken the lead in calling on President Barack Obama to posthumously pardon Jamaica’s first national hero, Marcus Mosiah Garvey. The 17 members of the United States House of Representatives including Gregory Meeks, Charles Rangel and Hakeem Jeffries, have sent a letter to Obama, noting that Garvey, who was born in St. Ann’s Bay, Jamaica, had “inspired generations of leaders, from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to President Nelson Mandela.

Police Probing Assassination Video

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua, Dec 14, CMC – Police have released the former Antigua & Barbuda Defence Force (ABDF) captain, George Wehner, pending further investigation into a video circulated on the social media that Parliament agreed incites “the assassination” of legislators here. “As it relates to the video investigation, he has been released pending further investigation,” attorney Leon “Chaku” Symister said.

Greater Visibility Urged on National Trust

Image: La Rose group at the AGM

GOVERNOR General Dame PearletteLouisy has challenged the Saint Lucia National Trust to augment efforts to make its wide-ranging conservation work more visible in the public domain. Addressing the Trust’s annual general meeting recently, she congratulated the management, councilors and staff for the work they had undertaken over the past year, and for keeping its members engaged. However, Dame Pearlette who is also the SLNT’s Patron noted that more needs to be done to give the organization the visibility it deserves.

New Zealand, CDB To Partner In Geothermal Development

THE Government of New Zealand and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) have formally confirmed their ongoing partnership in support of geothermal energy development in the Eastern Caribbean. New Zealand High Commissioner, Mrs Jan Henderson met with President of CDB, Dr William Warren Smith on Monday, to discuss progress on the implementation of the CDB GeoSMART Initiative, which has been receiving technical support from the Government of New Zealand.

NEW ZIKA CONCERNS

NEW concerns about the impact of the Zika virus in St Lucia were raised yesterday in a statement from the Ministry of Health which announced “heightened surveillance” of pregnant women confirmed with the disease.
The Ministry said presently, it is monitoring 50 pregnant women who have tested positive for the Zika Virus Disease. All of the pregnant women confirmed so far have recovered from the illness. However, given the concerns regarding pregnancy outcomes in Zika positive pregnant women, they are being monitored closely through antenatal care services.

St. Lucian Among This Year’s PitchIT Finalists

PHILIP Wells, the entrepreneur behind the mobile app startup Parent Teacher Advisor made the finals of the PitchIT 2016, which was held in Trinidad and Tobago last week. The entrepreneur was one of 25 finalists competing for more than US$75,000 in cash and prizes through the challenge organized by the Caribbean Mobile Innovation Project (CMIP). PitchIT is a competition to discover new startup and mobile app ideas from across the Caribbean. It is funded through EPIC, which is a World Bank Group and Government of Canada programme to stimulate entrepreneurship in the region.

Trevor Daniel Football Programme

BIG things continue to happen as telecom leader FLOW partners with the biggest youth development programme in St. Lucia: the “Trevor Daniel Football Development Programme” (TDFDP). Last Saturday over 300 uniforms and balls were lined up awaiting eager little hands. The recipients were the enrolled active members of the FLOW-TDFDP, a wonderful indication of the corporate giant’s continued commitment to giving back to St. Lucia in a big way.

Netball At Vigie Complex

IT’S day two of the three match netball series between Saint Maarten and host Saint Lucia that’s currently being played at the Vigie Multi-Purpose Sports complex. Weather permitting the spectacle will serve off from centre court at 7:00 p.m. The two teams will face each other in the final match tomorrow starting from 4:00 p.m. at the same venue.