BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID), have signed an agreement which will add GBP30 million (mn) to the United Kingdom Caribbean Infrastructure Partnership Fund (UKCIF). The agreement was signed on the sidelines of CDB’s Board of Directors meeting on July 26, 2018.

The majority of the funds will be used to establish a reconstruction window, to respond to emergencies and natural disasters, with resources earmarked for Dominica and Barbuda. A portion of the grant funding will also be used for monitoring and evaluation.

UKCIF was established to drive inclusive economic growth and development across the Caribbean, through the provision of vital infrastructure. All projects must build resilience to climate change.

“Recovery and reconstruction after a natural disaster can negatively impact a country’s budget. The 2017 Atlantic Hurricane Season caused significant damage and destruction in some of the UKCIF-eligible countries, and these additional funds are to assist Dominica, and Antigua and Barbuda recover from the impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria,” said Monica La Bennett, Vice-President (Operations), CDB.

UKCIF provides grant financing to eight Caribbean countries eligible for Official Development Assistance, and UK Overseas Territory, Montserrat, and is administered by CDB. The original amount of GBP300 mn has been fully committed to projects, which will be undertaken in these countries. Capital projects approved to date include the rehabilitation of the Sir George Walter Highway and the Friars Hill Road in Antigua and Barbuda, development of the port at Little Bay, Montserrat and the Essex Valley Agricultural Development Project, Jamaica…[+]

Ruptures are starting to show in Italy’s populist coalition as anti-immigration moves by Matteo Salvini, interior minister and leader of the far-right League, unsettle senior politicians from his ally, the Five Star Movement (M5S), and the party’s core voters.

Voters from across the political spectrum flocked to the anti-establishment movement founded by TV comedian Beppe Grillo in 2010. They were attracted by its stance on corruption, but also by the party’s pledge to help small businesses, slash red tape and lift people out of poverty, and by its emphasis on the environment. But two months into the M5S-League coalition government some have major doubts. Last week Roberto Fico, M5S MP and president of the chamber of deputies, spoke out against a controversial pact with Libya that sees migrants forcibly returned to war-riven north Africa.(theguardian)…[+]

The head of a Syrian research facility that western countries say was part of a chemical weapons programme has been killed in a car bombing, the pro-government Syrian newspaper al-Watan has said. Aziz Asber was the director of the Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Centre in Masyaf, near Hama, which western governments say was a covert government installation.

Asber died after an explosion targeted his car in the Hama countryside, al-Watan said in an online report. The attack was claimed by a Syrian group affiliated with the Tahrir al-Sham rebels. It includes the group formerly known as the Nusra Front, which served as al-Qaida’s Syrian branch.The Abu Amara Brigades released a statement on their Telegram channel saying they had planted explosive devices that detonated and killed Asber. The explosion occurred on Saturday night, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said. The Masyaf research centre was targeted in Israeli airstrikes last month and in September last year, the Britain-based monitoring group said.(theguardian)…[+]

Donald Trump rounded on a report on Sunday that he is worried about son Donald Trump Jr’s exposure to special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia-collusion investigation. In one of a series of early morning tweets, the US president issued in apparent reaction to a CNN report, Trump said: “Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower.”

He continued: “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!” Trump has launched a series of new public attacks on Mueller and his team in recent weeks, which has been interpreted as possible signs the president is anxious about the inquiry reaching his family.(theguardian)…[+]

Anti-racist groups in Italy have warned of a dangerous acceleration in attacks on immigrants after 12 shootings, two murders and 33 physical assaults were recorded in the two months since Matteo Salvini, leader of the far-right League party, entered government as interior minister.

Opposition politicians have accused Salvini of creating a climate of hate following the attacks, which have coincided with an anti-migration drive that has included closing Italian ports to NGO rescue boats and a vow to expel non-Italian Roma. In one incident in July, a 13-month-old Roma girl was shot in the back with an airgun pellet. In at least two recent attacks on immigrants, the perpetrators have allegedly shouted Salvini’s name.

“Propaganda around anti-migrant policies has clearly contributed to creating a climate of hostility and to legitimising racist violence,” said Grazia Naletto, the manager of migration policies and racial discrimination of the Lunaria association, which publishes quarterly reports on the number of racially motivated attacks in Italy.(theguardian)…[+]

Zimbabwe’s opposition leader, Nelson Chamisa, has described the result of the presidential election as fraudulent and illegitimate at an extraordinary press conference that was delayed when riot police dispersed waiting journalists. Chamisa, the leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), claimed his supporters had been subjected to violence and harassment and that the results of the election – the first since the army removed 94-year-old Robert Mugabe from office in November – had been manipulated.

It was his first public appearance since the incumbent president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was declared the election winner early on Friday morning. “Mr Mnangagwa did not win the election in this country … we won this election emphatically,” Chamisa said. “If you go around the country you will find no celebration. This is a black day for democracy. We are seeing a repeat of the last regime.” Mnangagwa, who for decades was one of Mugabe’s closest collaborators, later invited media to his colonial-era official residence in Harare. The 75-year-old former spy chief said the elections had been free and fair and he reached out to Chamisa, saying he had a crucial role to play in Zimbabwe’s present and future.

“There will be some who are disappointed by the outcome [of the election] but I urge everyone to remember that we are all brothers and sisters, sharing one dream and one destiny,” Mnangagwa said.(theguardian)…[+]

Two people have died from apparent heatstroke in Spain and parts of the country are on red alert as the first heatwave of the summer tightens its grip on the Iberian peninsula, with temperatures as high as 45C (113F) forecast for the weekend.

A mass of exceptionally hot air began moving up from Africa on Wednesday, causing temperatures of 44C in some areas of Spain by Friday afternoon. Two provinces in the western region of Extremadura have been placed on red alert, as has the Salamanca province of Castilla y León, and parts of the usually temperate north-western region of Galicia. Madrid and most of central and south-western Spain were on orange alert, with temperatures as high as 40C predicted. Despite the surging temperatures, however, most of the Spanish coastline will be spared the worst of the weekend’s heat, with the Costa del Sol due to experience normal conditions for the time of year.(theguardian)…[+]

Pope Francis has said the death penalty is “inadmissible” and that the Catholic church would work for its abolition across the world. Capital punishment was “an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person”, Francis said in a change to Catholic teaching. The church previously viewed the death penalty, carried out by a legitimate authority after a fair trial, as an “appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good”, according to a Vatican statement.
But it said there was an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person was not lost even after “the commission of very serious crimes”. More effective systems of detention could ensure the protection of citizens without depriving “the guilty of the possibility of redemption”. Pope Francis has previously spoken out against the death penalty, saying last year it “heavily wounds human dignity” and is an inhuman measure. Capital punishment was “in itself, contrary to the Gospel”, he said.(theguardian)…[+]

The army is patrolling the streets of the Zimbabwean capital Harare, one day after three people were shot dead when soldiers and police fought running battles with hundreds of protesters, firing live ammunition, teargas and water cannon.

Less than 72 hours after polls closed in Zimbabwe’s presidential election – the first since the fall of Robert Mugabe last year, and billed as the beginning of a new era for the impoverished country – soldiers warned the few office workers and vendors around to go home. The main post office, banks and many shops were closed on Thursday. Traffic remained light and military helicopter flew overhead, with scattered debris and scorch marks betraying the scenes of violence from the day before. “We are scared,” said Mildred Masara, a hotel worker. “We don’t know what’s going to happen now. I have to earn a living but I would like to be at home now.”(theguardian)…[+]

BRIDGETOWN – The Board of Directors of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has approved funding in the amount of USD4.4 million (mn) to help Guyana enhance its transportation sector, and support the development of interior communities. The funds will be used to finance feasibility studies and designs for the upgrade of the Lethem aerodrome, and the construction of a new bridge at Wismar and a new riverine transport terminal at Parika.

The selected sites are all considered to be priority areas for improvements by the Government of Guyana. The Mackenzie-Wismar Bridge was constructed 51 years ago, and includes just one lane. On average, approximately 3,000 vehicles cross the bridge daily, which results in traffic congestion. It is a major connection point between Georgetown and Demerara, as well as to several interior locations and Brazil.

Upgrading the Lethem aerodrome is expected to capitalise on current and future demands for travel between Northern Brazil, the Caribbean, Latin/South America and North America. It is also expected to facilitate the development and expansion of businesses and other economic activities in the Region 9 area. The Parika riverine transport terminal is the main hub for riverine transportation services between Parika and the neighbouring communities separated by the Essequibo River. It has deteriorated over time and is becoming a threat to public safety.  The project, to be implemented through the Ministry of Public Infrastructure in Guyana, will complement other CDB interventions, including ongoing work to improve sections of the road link from Linden to Lethem…[+]