PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – President Irfaan Ali of Guyana Friday defended the 15-member regional integration grouping, CARICOM, and reiterated his support for the reappointment of Dr.  Carla Barnett as the grouping’s Secretary General for another five year term.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar says the “surreptitious and odious process” used regarding the reappointment of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Dr. Cara Barnett, could have long term effects for the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

ST. JOHN’S, Antigua – The Parliament of Antigua and Barbuda has been dissolved paving the way for a general election.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar Sunday dismissed a statement issued by the chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Dr. Terrance Drew in which reiterated that Trinidad and Tobago was not “uninvited”  to the retreat where a decision was taken to reappoint Belizean economist Dr. Carla Barnett as Secretary General of the 15-member regional integration grouping.

NASSAU, Bahamas - Bahamians go to the polls on May 12 to elect a new government with Prime Minister Philip Davis saying that Parliament will be dissolved on April 8 and the writs for the elections, five months ahead of the constitutional deadline, being issued on April 9.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad - The Trinidad and Tobago government says it has received the support of more than 100 countries, including those in the Caribbean Community (CARICO) for a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council next year.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The Trinidad and Tobago government says it recognised Delcy Rodriquez as the Acting President of Venezuela as Port of Spain prepares to send a delegation to Caracas to discuss energy issues, Foreign Affairs Minister Sean Sobers has said.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – The chairman of the Barbados-based Regional Security System (RSS), St. Clair Leacock, says he has been informed that the United States will not punish Caribbean countries that refuse to accept third-country nationals (TCNs)

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew has said that St. Kitts and Nevis will soon sign an agreement with Guyana covering at least seven areas including food security, as the twin island Federation moves to deal with the impact of high food prices occasioned by the ongoing war in the Middle East.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados –  The chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Reparations Commission (CRC), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, has criticised the decision of the United Kingdom to abstain from voting on a United Nations resolution which recognised the transatlantic slave trade as the “gravest crime against humanity”.

COCKBURN TOWN, Turks and Caicos Islands – The governor of the Turks and Caicos Islands,  Dileeni Daniel-Selvaratnam, has announced the appointment Justice Yonette Cummings-Edwards as Chief Justice of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President Irfaan Ali has described the former president of Suriname, Chandrikapersad Santokhi, who died on Monday as a “friend”  saying also that he was a “brother forged not by blood but by conviction”.