WHP CBS 21: World News

Jamaica eyes expatriates as source of investment

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:33:13 -0400

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) — In a bid to kick start Jamaica's chronically stagnant economy, the Caribbean country is wooing its citizens living abroad to invest in the island of their birth.

On Tuesday, hundreds of entrepreneurs and other Jamaican expatriates mingled with government officials and local business leaders, brainstorming ways to boost growth and development. The sessions were part of a four-day "Jamaica Diaspora" conference aimed at tapping into the wealth, education and know-how of the island's expatriates.

"This can lead to a roadmap for Jamaica's future. The people who have come here to this conference have substantial knowledge, connections and interests that can help take the country's development into many, many directions," said Lloyd Grey, a retired engineer from Reading, England, who was raised on Jamaica but moved to Britain decades ago.

Jamaica and other Caribbean nations have long suffered from a "brain drain" that has seen professionals and skilled workers head off to jobs overseas. About 3.3 million Jamaicans are believed to live outside the country, mostly in the U.S., Britain and Canada. Roughly 2.7 million live on the island.

The Jamaican expatriates already send home about $2 billion a year in remittances in what has become the island's biggest foreign exchange earner. But Industry, Investment and Commerce Minister Anthony Hylton hopes to increase that amount to help strengthen the economy.

"Achieving sustained economic growth, with jobs, remains the biggest challenge and the most intractable problem facing Jamaica. This focus on growth and development is therefore very critical if we are to break the vicious cycle of stagnated growth and poverty," Hylton said.

Over 55 companies and organizations are participating in the conference in Montego Bay, which is home to a flourishing call center industry.

Leaders of other Caribbean islands like Grenada and St. Lucia have also been wooing nationals abroad and encouraging them to assist with developing their homelands, but more populous Jamaica has long had the most focused effort to forge relationships with its overseas citizens.

The push to entice more expatriates in investing in their homeland comes as Jamaica's debt is roughly 150 percent of gross domestic product. In February, Jamaica launched a debt-swap program to satisfy conditions to forge a new pact with the International Monetary Fund and halt what the prime minister described as an economic crisis. In April, the IMF approved a four-year, $958 million loan package to stabilize the economy.

Brazil lawmakers OK bill for treatment of gays

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 20:16:56 -0400

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — A Brazilian congressional human rights committee on Thursday approved legislation that would allow psychologists to treat homosexuality as a disorder or pathology.

The commission is led by evangelical pastor Marco Feliciano of the Social Christian Party, who has been accused of homophobia and enraged activists by calling AIDS a "gay cancer" in a tweet. His appointment as head the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities in the lower house of Brazil's Congress was fiercely opposed by gay and human rights groups.

The measure approved Tuesday seeks to lift a prohibition on psychologists treating homosexuality that was established by the Federal Psychology Council. The ban has been in effect since 1999.

"In practice, (the initiative's) result would be that a person over 18 years of age, responsible for his actions, who is homosexual and wants to reorient his sexuality, can be attended by a psychologist," said lawmaker Joao Campos, a member of the evangelical bloc of Brazil's lower house.

Feliciano had tried for weeks to put the "gay cure" initiative before the commission but had failed as opponents maneuvered to block a vote. The initiative was passed Tuesday amid a low turnout by commission members.

The psychologists' council had called on commission members to vote against it.

"Today psychology, as wells as other scientific disciplines, recognize that sexual orientation is not a pathology that should be treated, it is not a perversion nor a disorder nor a behavioral disturbance. Since this is the case, we cannot offer a cure, and that is an ethical principle," said council member Huberto Verona.

The initiative still must be debated by other committees before going to the full Chamber of Deputies and the Senate for votes.

Jean Wyllys, Brazil's first openly gay lawmaker, expressed confidence the initiative would not make it through the legislative process.

US senators urge Kerry to review Honduras' aid

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:48:48 -0400

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) — U.S. senators are urging Secretary of State John Kerry to order a review of aid for Honduras' police and military amid allegations of abuse and human rights violations.

The 21 senators want the State Department to provide Congress with a detailed report on whether the Honduran government is protecting freedom of expression, implementing the rule of law and investigating abuses allegedly involving police and soldiers, as required by the U.S.

In a letter sent to Kerry on Monday, the senators say they have, in their words, "serious questions regarding the State Department's certification that these conditions were met for Fiscal Year 2012."

The senators also say they are disappointed with the Honduran government's efforts to address corruption and criminality in the police force, which they call a disappointing failure.

US Senators say arming Syrian rebels not enough

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:03:42 -0400

WASHINGTON (AP) — A bipartisan trio of key senators is demanding that President Barack Obama take more decisive action to stem the military advance by Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.

Democratic Sens. Robert Menendez and Carl Levin and Republican John McCain say in a joint letter to Obama that Syrian government forces are advancing so dramatically that providing weapons to the opposition alone is unlikely to shift the war back in the rebels' favor.

The administration last week authorized lethal aid to the rebels. But it isn't trying to enforce a no-fly zone or otherwise intervene militarily to halt a war that has killed almost 93,000 people.

The senators say the U.S. should consider targeting regime airfields, runways and aircraft, and help rebels establish safe zones in Syria.

Argentine Supreme Court rejects judicial reform

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 18:00:12 -0400

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's Supreme Court has struck down key elements of a judicial reform the government hoped would rapidly make the courts more responsive to majority rule.

The court says it's unconstitutional to require direct popular elections for an expanded magistrates' council that hires and punishes judges. The law would have expanded the council from 13 to 19 members and make it so that whatever party wins congress would be able to name a majority on the body.

But the high court said Tuesday that this would break the balance of powers in Argentina's democracy, compromise judicial independence and weaken citizens' rights by distorting the electoral process.

With a 6-to-1 majority, the justices also said such changes can't be done by passing laws, and instead require amending the constitution.

Ammunition fire rages at Russian military base

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:59:54 -0400

MOSCOW (AP) — Exploding shells set off a fire that was triggering explosions at a military depot in southern Russia, injuring about 30 people and causing the evacuation of more than 6,000 from a nearby village, investigators and emergency workers said.

No cause has yet been determined for the fire at the Chapaevsk military depot in the Samara region, which the federal Investigative Committee said was set off Tuesday by the "involuntary" explosions of shells.

Russian munitions, which frequently date back to the Soviet era, have exploded several times in recent years and the resulting fires usually rage for days. In October, a soldier caused a devastating fire at an ammunition depot by dropping a cigarette butt. In other cases, shells have exploded during munitions disposal.

The Emergencies Ministry said about 30 people had sought medical help and 11 of them were hospitalized, while more than 6,000 people were evacuated from the village of Nagorny. More than 600 emergency workers were trying to put out the fire, the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

The Interfax news agency said the shells at the Chapaevsk base have a range of less than a kilometer (half a mile).

US war games sends clear signal to Syrian president

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:59:04 -0400

ZARQA, Jordan (AP) — Under the watchful eye of stern-faced American advisers, hundreds of U.S.-trained Jordanian commandos fanned across this dusty desert plain, holding war games that could eventually form the basis of an assault in Syria.

With the recent deployment of Patriot missiles near the Syrian border, and the mock Syrian accents of those playing the enemy, the message was clear: There is fear of spillover from the Syrian war in this U.S.-allied kingdom, and the potential for a Jordanian role in securing Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles should Bashar Assad's regime lose control.

Dubbed Eager Lion, the 12-day exercise involves combined land, air and sea maneuvers across the country. It brings together 8,000 personnel from 19 Arab and European nations to train on border security, irregular warfare, terrorism and counterinsurgency.

Marine Corps Lt. Col. Duke Shienle said Syria "is a concern that all our regional partners share."

The Syrian crisis is "causing all military in the region to increase intensity," he said as he supervised masked commandos in black uniforms from Jordan and two other Syria neighbors — Iraq and Lebanon — in a mock exercise to free a hijacked aircraft on an airstrip in the eastern Jordanian desert.

Nearby, U.S. military strategists taught Jordanian riot police to quickly contain a mock protest by angry mobs in a crowded refugee camp. The trainers refused to name the camp, but the trainees said it was "Zaatari," a reference to a refugee settlement straddling the border with Syria that shelters around 185,000 displaced Syrians.

"We want freedom! We want a free Syria!" the trainees shouted, speaking the Syrian dialect as they depicted Syrian refugees. Others looked on from under dusty tents pitched on a strip of desert outside a Jordanian army compound. The location of this exercise and others could not be disclosed in line with Jordanian army regulations.

Elsewhere, in the south, hundreds of masked Jordanian commandos in black uniforms used machine-guns, rocket propellers and tanks to overwhelm an enemy target as Jordanian helicopters and fighter jets — all part of previous American donations — buzzed the skies overhead.

"We want to tell anyone with malicious intentions toward Jordan that we can hit back where it hurts most painfully," said one Jordanian commando, speaking under scorching sun in the arid mountain region. He could not be named under army regulations and declined to say if the enemy he was fighting was Assad's army.

Other training focused on humanitarian relief and crisis management and involves 7,000 civilians from non-governmental organizations engaged in providing assistance to Syrian refugees, said Tawfiq Hennawi of the International Committee of the Red Cross, one of the participating NGOs.

Jordan hosts more than half a million Syrians who fled Assad's military onslaught and that number is expected to rise to 1.2 million by the end of the year.

"These exercises bolster our defense capabilities," said Jordanian army Maj. Gen. Awni Edwan, adding that the Eager Lion exercises, which end Thursday, are routine, having being held twice before at the same time.

"We don't intend to attack anybody," he said.

Jordan has been leery that Assad may eventually use his chemical weapons against his neighbors, or if his regime starts to collapse, his stockpile may fall into the hands of al-Qaida or other militants who are trying to rise to power in Syria.

There has been mounting speculation that should Assad's regime begin to lose control, Jordan will dispatch its highly-skilled, U.S.-trained and equipped commandos to secure Assad's chemical weapons and create a safe haven for Syrian refugees along the 230-mile (375-kilometer) border with Jordan, according to a Western diplomat who monitors Syria from his base in Jordan.

The purpose is to prevent a further influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan out of fear that Shiite militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah group or other Iranian agents may slip across the border to destabilize this key U.S. ally, said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity because identifying him might jeopardize his intelligence-gathering on Syria.

Jordan's predominantly Sunni Muslim population is traditionally a fiery critic of the growing influence of Iran and its rival Shiite sect.

Regional media reports this week suggesting that Hezbollah activists are deploying near the Jordanian border to help Assad regain control of southern Daraa province— which has been a lifeline for arms shipments to rebels seeking to topple him — sent jitters across Jordan. Officials said that security was immediately beefed up, with more Jordanian soldiers deployed along the border with Syria.

In recent weeks, Assad's forces have appeared to be regaining control over areas seized by rebels, particularly the strategic town of Qusair.

Jordan also fears that Assad's sleeper cells, including Hezbollah, may already be in the country and would act if instructed by Iran or Syria, where an uprising that started in 2011 has descended into all-out civil war.

Eager Lion coincides with Washington deploying one or two Patriot batteries along the border with Syria and agreeing to keep a squadron of 12 to 24 F-16 fighter jets after the exercises — a move Syria's regime and its Russian patron have expressed concern over.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying that the deployment of the air-defense systems in Jordan in order to set up a no-fly zone over Syria would be a violation of international law.

The United States has said it has no plans for military intervention in Syria, although President Barack Obama has left the door open for any possibility.

"With this exercise being the biggest fire power show ever in Jordan, coupled with the deployment of Patriot air defense systems and U.S. fighter jets, it is clear that the ground is being set for military intervention in Syria," said Col. Khalil Rawahneh, a Jordanian military strategist who participated in at least 16 U.S. and British-sponsored maneuvers until he retired four years ago.

UN likely to expand Golan peacekeeping force

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:57:45 -0400

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The Security Council president says the U.N. is likely to expand its peacekeeping force in the disputed Golan Heights with more troops and heavy weapons.

British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant says there is "strong support" in the council for Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's proposal to expand the 913-member force to 1,250.

The force was established in 1974 to monitor the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan.

Grant said Tuesday that Russia and the U.S. will circulate a resolution to renew the force's mandate.

Grant also said Fiji is likely sending troops by the end of July to replace Austrian peacekeepers who are withdrawing after fighting from Syria's civil war threatened their positions. He said some Fijians are arriving shortly to replace Croatian peacekeepers who withdrew in March.

Cuban family says repression forced them to flee to US

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:46:11 -0400

MIAMI (AP) — The daughter of a prominent Cuban dissident who died in a car crash says her family decided to seek refuge in the U.S. after facing continued repression.

Rosa Maria Paya and her mother spoke with reporters Tuesday in Miami.

Paya traveled throughout Europe and the U.S. in April to push for an international investigation into her father's death.

Oswaldo Paya was killed in a car crash in 2012. His daughter says witness accounts, text messages and other evidence raise questions about the Cuban government's official account, which is that the crash was an accident.

Rosa Maria Paya returned to Cuba, even though she said her family had been threatened.

She said Tuesday that attacks and vigilance had intensified against her family and others involved in the movement her father started.

Judge urges new approach for Gitmo detainee cases

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 17:12:53 -0400

WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal appeals court judge said it's time for President Obama and Congress to consider a different approach to the handling of detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Naval prison.

Judge Harry T. Edwards made the comment Tuesday at the end of a written opinion in which he reluctantly concurred with a three-judge panel's decision rejecting a Guantanamo prisoner's challenge to his detention.

Edwards wrote that the detainee's challenge fails because of the precedent established by the Washington, D.C., Circuit Court of Appeals. But the judge said that when reviewing cases like this one, "I am disquieted by our jurisprudence."

In the majority opinion, Judge Thomas Griffith wrote that the detainee was properly detained because he was likely part of an enemy force when he was captured in 2002.