Caricom youth summit
Young people from across Caricom are gathering in Suriname for a two-day summit on youth development opening today.
At least four heads of government are due to attend the conference which will examine major youth problems, challenges and threats.
Delegates will discuss the results of a three year study by the Caricom Commission on Youth Development.
Among its findings: youth unemployment rate in the region is an average 23%, teenage pregnancy takes up some $2,000 per year for every young pregnant mother, and overall youth crime is costing at least 7% of Caricom’s Gross Domestic Product.
Party responds to olive branch
The peace offering made by the re-elected St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister to his main opponents has met with a lukewarm response.
The chairman of the opposition People’s Action Movement (PAM) is Cheslie Hamilton, said he regarded the offer as “hypocritical”, given the nature of the campaign for Monday’s election.
He told BBC Caribbean that the party had written many unanswered letters to Prime Minister Denzil Douglas but was willing to work with the government.
“It is up to Dr Douglas to show by his actions, not his words, what he means,” Hamilton said.
PAM plans to file a legal challenge to some of the results of Monday’s election which saw Prime Minister Denzil Douglas win a fourth straight term.
Judge okays Stanford sale
A judge in the United States has approved the sale of real estate owned by corporations controlled by alleged swindler Allen Stanford.
The receiver charged with recovering assets for Stanford investors, had asked the court to allow the public auction of dozens of parcels of properties in the continental United States and the US Virgin Islands.
Stanford and four others face criminal and civil charges for defrauding investors in a $7 billion Ponzi scheme involving certificates of deposit involving his offshore bank on Antigua.
They have all denied any wrongdoing.
