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Uwi And Usm Sign Mou Marking Historic Solidarity In The Caribbean

Antonio Carmona Baez, President of USMand Sir Henry Beckles, Vice-Chancellor UWI.

POND ISLAND-- University of St. Martin (USM) and University of the West Indies (UWI) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) marking a historic partnership between the two universities.

USM after a decade of working in close partnership with UWI Open Campus, expressed an interest in joining UWI global system which includes joint centres with ten international universities, USM announced in a press release on Saturday.

The UWI Council discussed the concept note and approved it in principle earlier this year, asking Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Hilary Beckles and his team to develop a road map with a full proposal for further consideration.

That process began with the signing of an MOU between the two universities on Wednesday, October 7.

Vice-Chancellor of UWI, Professor Sir Beckles and Valerie Giterson-Pantophlet, President of the Board of USM met virtually to sign the MOU which marked a historic partnership, not only between the universities, but significantly for the framework for collaboration and regional development now established between the Dutch Caribbean and English-speaking territories of UWI.

As an Economic Historian, Professor Sir Beckles brought context to the importance of the occasion, noting that after 528 years almost to the date, of Christopher Columbus entry into the region on October 12, 1492, that this is A historic and courageous project that seeks to reverse the legacies of the Columbus project, to put those legacies behind us so that we can go forward as one people, one sovereign nation, one civilization Read more

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Ppa Presents ‘Clear Vision’ For September 26 Election

SUCKER GARDEN--People’s Progressive Alliance (PPA) held its first party congress Saturday, at the Lion’s Community Centre in Sucker Garden. In her congressional speech, party leader Gracita Arrindell rallied supporters behind the PPA’s goals in the run-up to the September 26 parliamentary election.

PPA joined forces with the United People’s (UP) party in the 2014 election, but will be contesting the upcoming election on its own Read more

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Map To Be Replaced By A New Movement

Marigot --The Movement for Advancement of the People (MAP) will be replaced by a new political movement, MAP President Louis Mussington disclosed at a recent general assembly with party members Read more

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Scientists: Water flows on Mars, raising possibility that planet could support life

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida--Briny water flows during the summer months on Mars, raising the possibility that the planet long thought to be arid could support life today, scientists analyzing data from a NASA spacecraft said on Monday.
  Although the source and the chemistry of the water is unknown, the discovery will change scientists' thinking about whether the planet that is most like Earth in the solar system hosts microbial life beneath its radiation-blasted crust.
  "It suggests that it would be possible for life to be on Mars today," John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, told reporters, discussing the study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.
  "Mars is not the dry, arid planet that we thought of in the past Read more

More than 700 pilgrims die in crush in worst haj disaster for 25 years

MINA, Saudi Arabia--At least 717 pilgrims from around the world were killed on Thursday in a crush outside the Muslim holy city of Mecca, Saudi authorities said, in the worst disaster to strike the annual haj pilgrimage for 25 years.
  At least 863 others were injured. Saudi King Salman said he had ordered a review of haj plans after the disaster, in which two large groups of pilgrims arrived together at a crossroads in Mina, a few kilometres east of Mecca, on their way to performing the "stoning of the devil" ritual at Jamarat.
  Thursday's disaster was the worst to occur at the pilgrimage since July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims suffocated in a tunnel near Mecca Read more

Lake Powell's receding waters show risk of "megadrought"

ON THE SHORES OF LAKE POWELL, Utah/Arizona border--Where the Colorado River falls from the snow-capped Rocky Mountains into the arid U.S. Southwest, lies Lake Powell.
  More than 500 feet (150 meters) deep in places and with narrow side canyons, the shoreline of the lake is longer than the entire West Coast of the United States. It extends upstream into Utah from Arizona's Glen Canyon Dam and provides water for Nevada, Arizona and California.
  But a severe drought in recent years, combined with the tapping of the lake's water at what many consider to be an unsustainable level, has reduced its levels to only about 42 percent of its capacity, according to the U.S Read more

Tamara: Increase Chamber fee to fund surveillance camera system

PHILIPSBURG--Partial funding for the long-overdue camera surveillance system starting in Philipsburg and branching out to the rest of the country can be raised easily through a nominal fee increase for all St. Maarten Chamber of Commerce and Industry (COCI) registrants, United People’s (UP) party Member of Parliament (MP) Tamara Leonard proposed in a letter to Parliament dated July 28 in light of the daring daylight robberies in Philipsburg.

   The letter, directed to Chairman of Parliament’s Justice Committee MP Johan Leonard, said Tamara envisioned a collaboration of the Chamber of Commerce, police, St Read more

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No word yet on completion of minister candidates screening

PHILIPSBURG--It has been more than a month since the submission for screening a minister candidate to join the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet and there has not been any word about whether and when the candidate will be sworn in to office. There also has not been any information about the progress of the screening from authorities.

The candidate, who is expected to take up the post of Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications (TEATT), is former utilities company GEBE employee Ernest Sams.

Following a successful screening, Sams is to take up that post and current minister Claret Connor is slated to move to the portfolio of Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning, Environment and Infrastructure VROMI Read more

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TI study finds gaps between laws and their enforcement

BERLIN/PHILIPSBURG--There is a “general gap” between laws on the books and the practice and enforcement of those laws in St. Maarten’s key institutions, the global anti-corruption organisation Transparency International (TI) said in a report published Tuesday.

The gap is “a major obstacle for consolidating the democratic foundation of this new country and weakens its accountability mechanisms. It will limit the success of any future programme promoting good governance and countering corruption, if not addressed,” the organisation said.

Based on the findings of the St Read more

Multi-Annual Plan underlines importance of development

SABA--The Multi-Annual Programme (MAP) underlines the importance of Saba's further development, the Executive Council indicated during the Caribbean Netherlands (CN) Week held in The Hague in June.

Under the MAP umbrella, projects in the area of economic development, children's rights and the reduction of poverty are either in progress or are yet to be launched Read more

Coalition to outsource schools to private sector

PHILIPSBURG--The private sector soon will be asked to adopt public schools in an effort by the United People's (UP) party-led coalition "to reallocate responsibility to the business community."

This outsourcing seeks to persuade businesses to contribute to the community "in a productive, structured, visible manner," according to the UP-led coalition's "Ready to Work for You" 2014-2018 Governing Programme submitted to the Marcel Gumbs Cabinet on June 9.

It is now up to the cabinet to formulate an execution policy for the "Adopt-A-School" programme in which the private sector will have to participate Read more

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Governing Programme presented to Gumbs

PHILIPSBURG--The United People’s (UP) party-led coalition submitted its 2014-2018 Governing Programme, titled “Ready To Work For You” to Government on Thursday. The presentation comes one day ahead of the coalition’s ninth month in office and almost seven months after the Marcel Gumbs cabinet took office.

UP deputy leader Member of Parliament (MP) Franklin Meyers, MP Tamara Leonard (UP) and independent MPs Leona Romeo-Marlin and Cornelius de Weever presented the Governing Programme to Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs and Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Minister Claret Connor on behalf of the UP/De Weever/Marlin-Romeo/United St Read more

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ExxonMobil to continue exploring in Guyana waters despite Venezuela claim

GEORGETOWN, Guyana--Don't expect Guyana to stop its offshore oil exploration because Venezuela is claiming territorial waters where the "black gold" was recently discovered.

President David Granger has made it clear that his government will continue to back oil giant ExxonMobil in its work because the exploration is taking place in Guyana's exclusive economic zone.

He said he had met with officials from the company and assured them that they had nothing to fear as far as their operations in Guyana's waters were concerned.

Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro issued a decree on May 25, claiming sovereignty over Guyana's territorial waters in the Essequibo region of the Atlantic Ocean Read more

Sarah calls for high priority for performing arts centre

PHILIPSBURG--"Put politics aside" and get moving on the development and construction of a preforming arts centre for St. Maarten was the call from Democratic Party (DP) leader Member of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams to her fellow MPs on Monday morning.

The arts centre should be "put as a high priority" by government and the money needs to be found for the project, Wescot-Williams said in the notification section of the plenary session of Parliament dealing with the Integrity Chamber.

Her call stemmed from the packed arts and cultural schedule in the just concluded weekend Read more

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After midnight in the library, Putin sets out his world view

ST PETERSBURG, Russia--It was two minutes before midnight when Russian President Vladimir Putin finally entered the meeting room in the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library, more than three hours late, to be interviewed by a dozen exhausted journalists.

His retinue seemed wearily accustomed to the late-night regimen, but Putin himself - after back-to-back meetings, a speech and an on-stage interview at his annual business conference here in his home town of St Petersburg - was fresh, fulsome and feisty Read more

St. Maarten signatory to OCT sustainable Energy Roadmap

BRUSSELS, Belgium--Minister Plenipotentiary Josianne Artsen signed on the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) Sustainable Energy Roadmap on behalf of government on Thursday. The roadmap was the end result of the Summit of the OCTs Energy Ministers in Brussels, Belgium, from June 16 to 18.

The roadmap facilitates and supports the path to lower fossil fuel dependency, and increases energy efficiency to further assist OCTs in the transition to sustainable energy.

OCT governments agreed at the summit to support the development of an OCT Sustainable Energy Roadmap to help reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and improve their energy efficiency.

A selection of the identified sustainable energy priority areas for the Caribbean OCTs and a proposal for a possible joint project were shared with the participants of the summit.

The Energy Summit gave OCTs the opportunity to provide guidance regarding sustainable energy priorities for the Thematic Programme (16-18 million euros) under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF).

Sustainable energy was identified as an essential area of cooperation at the OCTs Ministerial Conference, held in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, on February 26.

St Read more

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India's economic data bring cheer

NEW DELHI--India's industrial production output grew more than expected in April, reaching a two-month high, and retail inflation edged up in May, easing concern over an economy facing the worst drought since 2009.
  Output at factories, mines and utilities grew at an annual rate of 4.1 percent in April, the fastest pace since February. That was higher than March's 2.5 percent growth and the 1.6 percent economists forecast in a Reuters poll.
  Consumer inflation in May rose to 5.01 percent from 4.87 percent in the previous month on higher energy costs Read more

Putting people first focus of ICG/CARIBE EWS Meeting

 PHILIPSBURG--The need for a paradigm shift in disaster risk management to “put people at the centre” of preparedness, “instead of the last” was expounded on by Christa Hillebrandt-Andrade, Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions ICG/CARIBE EWS-X.

Hillebrandt-Andrade, speaking Tuesday morning at the opening in the group’s three-day meeting at Sonesta Great Bay Beach Resort and Spa, added that the community must be kept “front and centre” in preparedness, especially with more and more people moving to coastal areas.

“Tsunami is no longer a forgotten danger in the Caribbean,” she said, calling for “the development of a culture of evacuation” to reduce risks in times of disaster Read more

NASA probe close to encounter with Pluto

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida--The first spacecraft to visit distant Pluto, a dwarf planet in the solar system's frozen backyard, is still three months away from a close encounter, but already in viewing range, newly released photos show.

The New Horizons probe blasted off from Florida in January 2006 for a 3-billion-mile (5-billion-km) journey to the Kuiper Belt region of the solar system located beyond Neptune Read more

1,000 to jam in Lighted Parade, motorists should note diversions

~ Zero tolerance in effect ~

PHILIPSBURG--Police on Thursday called on motorists to take note of the traffic diversions that will result from road closures associated with Rio Productions' fourth annual Lighted Parade on Saturday, April 11, from 8:00pm to 2:00am.

Front Street will close as of 5:00pm on Saturday in preparation for the parade, and vehicles parked on the road after this time will be towed at the owner's expense.

Brenda Wathey of Rio Productions told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that the parade has grown tremendously with some 1,000 persons registered to jam this year Read more

Skerrit: Grenada revolution holds lessons for Caribbean development

ST. GEORGE'S, Grenada--Dominica's Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit says the 1979 Grenada revolution that brought Maurice Bishop to power marked the most decisive fracture in the Anglophone Caribbean with the political and constitutional status quo.

"The greatest tragedy of that historical episode is that we have failed to learn the lessons of that experience and even more disturbingly, succeeding generations seem to have no knowledge of what is without question the most significant historical episode in the Caribbean in the 20th Century," Skerrit said as he delivered the inaugural March 13th "Lecturer" Monday night organised by the Grenada Revolution Memorial Foundation Inc Read more

DP: Country’s marketing seemingly at standstill

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten's tourism marketing in the Netherlands, the United States and Canada seems to be at a standstill with no representation in Europe and the expiration of the contracts for the North American market, according to Democratic Party (DP) Parliament fraction advisor Emil Lee.

Lee joined party leader Member of Parliament (MP) Sarah Wescot-Williams at Parliament House on Monday for a party press conference at which they discussed various issues the party is pursuing and is pushing for Parliament and the Gumbs Cabinet's attention.

Wescot-Williams said Tourism and Economic Affairs Minister Claret Connor is still to explain how and why he will be reorganising, re-evaluating and revisiting the already established St Read more

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Northeast US braves crippling blizzard, transit systems shut

NEW YORK/MAPLEWOOD, New Jersey--A massive, wind-whipped blizzard slammed into the U.S. Northeast on Monday, creating havoc for more than 60 million people and forcing New York City to shut down on a scale not seen since Superstorm Sandy devastated the region in 2012.

The potentially historic storm which could affect 20 percent of the U.S. population, caused several states up and down the East Coast to declare emergencies, forced the cancellation of thousands of flights, closed major mass transit hubs and schools Read more

St. Maarten to seek inclusion in UNESCO’s World Memory

PHILIPSBURG--St. Maarten wants to submit at least two projects for possible nomination in the Memory of the World (MoW) project of United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Project consultant of UNESCO Elizabeth Watson is currently in St. Maarten meeting with organizations to discuss the MoW, and possible nominations and submissions from St. Maarten.

"Documentary heritage reflects the diversity of languages, peoples and cultures. It is the mirror of the world and its memory Read more