Free Republic

NEW YORK, NY - From September 21 to September 24, President Bill Clinton and Chelsea Clinton will virtually convene members of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Action Network – leaders from business, government, and civil society – to drive action on resilience efforts in the Caribbean. The Action Network's efforts started in 2018 in direct response to Hurricanes Maria and Irma and have been revamped to address the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic in the region.

Wealthy Americans aren’t just fleeing big cities for rural communities amid the virus pandemic, social unrest, and surge in violent crime; some of these folks are leaving the country until the dust settles. Citizenship advisers, government agencies, and real estate developers are pointing out a surge in inbound migration flow of Americans to countries in the Caribbean Sea ahead of the US presidential election. Forbes spoke with Mohammed Asaria, whose Range Developments is constructing six new Senses resorts in Grenada, said Americans are flocking to the Caribbean as a means to ‘hideout’ from the socio-economic implosion stateside. “You’ve got the...

Bill Clinton denies visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private island Former President Bill Clinton denied ever visiting Jeffrey Epstein’s private Caribbean island in a statement Friday — a day after allegations that he had been there with two “young girls” surfaced in newly unsealed court documents. “The story keeps changing, the facts don’t. President Clinton has never been to the island,” Clinton spokesperson Angel Ureña tweeted Friday. In a statement to Newsweek, Ureña added that Clinton had not spoken to Epstein in more that a decade before sex trafficking allegations were lodged at him. On Thursday, statements that Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre...

The wife of an aristocrat who flew more than 30 times on Jeffrey Epstein’s ‘Lolita Express’ private jet has stepped down from her role at the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Clare Hazell raised thousands of pounds for the charity by hosting a classic car show each year at her family’s sprawling Elveden Estate in Norfolk. The Mail on Sunday last month revealed that the interior designer – who became the Countess of Iveagh in 2001 when she married Edward Guinness, 4th Earl of Iveagh and a member of the brewing dynasty – had repeatedly travelled...

Pirates or no pirates, the islands of the Caribbean were settled and resettled by at least three successive waves of colonists from the American mainland, according to a new study. The examination of ancient DNA from 93 islanders who lived between 400 and 3200 years ago reveals a complex population history and ties to broader, inter-continental human expansions in both North and South America, according to an international research team... The Caribbean was one of the last regions in the Americas to be settled. Archaeological evidence suggests the first residents arrived about 8000 years ago, and that 3000 years later...

One soldier was killed in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on Sunday, local media reported, when police officers shot up an army headquarters in a violent escalation of protests demanding better working conditions for police. Police officers exchanged gunfire with soldiers for hours after their protest halted near the national palace. It was unclear which side started firing first. Hundreds of supporters joined dozens of police officers, some in street clothes and others wearing police uniforms and face masks, as they advanced towards the palace in a protest demanding better pay. At least three police officers and one serviceman were...

Potters at Maya cities on the Caribbean side of Central America fused volcanic ash with local limestone to form household and ceremonial pottery, because the ash made their ceramics easier to fire. The distinctive recipe was a hallmark of the Late Classic Period from A.D. 600 to 900, Ford said. With thousands of people living in cities such as El Pilar and Tikal, the Mayan potters burned through several tons of volcanic ash every year, Ford has estimated. But no one can figure out where the ash came from. The mystery begins with the fact that there just aren't any...

——Why We Wrote This—— How to counter invasive species, a common, and often intractable, problem? One entrepreneur’s clever approach offers lessons in finding solutions in the unlikeliest of places. If you can’t beat them, eat them. That is the common wisdom of many scientists, conservationists, and fishermen who dream of ridding the western Atlantic of invasive lionfish, a stunning aquarium fish that, when introduced in the wild, dominates and destroys reef ecosystems. However, catching lionfish has never been simple; they are not easily targeted by line or net fishing. Now, a surprising new invention may bring lionfish hunting to the...

AN ASTEROID which came crashing into Earth and NASA had no idea it was coming reiterates the need to keep a closer eye on the sky in case a massive space rock comes hurtling towards our planet. A small asteroid shot towards Earth at 14.9 kilometres per second, and NASA admitted it did not know it was coming. The space rock known as 2019 MO was just three metres wide and exploded when it hit the planet’s atmosphere on 22 July above the Caribbean, but the way it approached unexpectedly reaffirms the need for more eyes on the sky. NASA...

When several Democratic presidential candidates answered questions in Spanish during the debates in Miami on Wednesday and Thursday, it was a clear overture to the Latino voting bloc — a message of inclusiveness from a party that needs strong turnout to win the White House in 2020. But for some in the growing Caribbean-American community of South Florida, it came across as a snub. “They never mention black immigrants,” said Francesca Menes, a 34-year-old of Haitian descent who in December resigned from her post as treasurer for the Florida Democratic Party. “They make us feel invisible,” Menes said of the...

While a number of Caribbean destinations struggle, resorts in the Bahamas are bouncing back from a tough period, attracting vacationers, gamblers and sun worshipers. Hotel occupancy in the Bahamas in the first half of 2019 was up 19% from a year earlier, according to hotel-data firm STR. Revenue per available room, a popular industry metric, was up 27% to $231. Nearby destinations’ rates have fallen or stayed flat. In part, the strong Bahamas numbers reflect the emergence of the $4.2 billion, 2,300-room Baha Mar resort and casino, which officially opened last year after falling more than two years behind schedule...

Latin America accounts for one third of world's homicides, life expectancy dropping in some countries: study. (Full title). The rising number of people being murdered across Latin America and the Caribbean is so high that the life expectancy in some of those countries is dropping, a new study claims. Unlike the rest of the world where homicide rates have generally dropped, statistics in some countries show that the murder rate has skyrocketed in recent years. So much so, that Latin America now accounts for about a third of the world’s homicides. ... more than 2 million people aged 15-19 in...

A Frenchman has set off to cross the Atlantic Ocean in a barrel-shaped orange capsule, using ocean currents alone to propel him. Jean-Jacques Savin, 71, left El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands and hopes to reach the Caribbean in as little as three months. His reinforced capsule contains a sleeping bunk, kitchen and storage. He will drop markers along the way to help oceanographers study Atlantic currents. Updates on the journey are being posted on a Facebook page and the latest message said the barrel was "behaving well". In a telephone interview with AFP news agency, he said: "The weather...

Johnny Depp has been dropped from “Pirates of the Caribbean,” according to the film franchise’s original scriptwriter Stuart Beattie. Disney Studios plans to reboot the billion-dollar franchise and will be axing Depp, Beattie told DailyMail TV at a recent red carpet event in Hollywood. The 55-year-old Depp had played Captain Jack Sparrow—a major role in the five “Pirates” movies over the past 15 years. “I think he’s had a great run. Obviously, he’s made that character his own and it’s become the character he’s most famous for now,” Beattie said. “And kids all over the world love him as that...

The Ministry of Tourism for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago hosts a website extolling the many exquisite charms of the “true Caribbean” to be found there. The islands offer rich history, culture, biodiversity, and lodging with views “to die for.”Of late, though, a diaspora of Trinidad and Tobago emigres have preferred the views in Syria and Iraq, and the company of Islamic terrorist group ISIS. At least 130 of T&T’s 1.2 million citizens left their white and turquoise shorelines to fight with vicious Islamists half a world away. How did that happen? “Entire families went,” including at least...

The new TTT television station must be the “gold standard” of quality in broadcasting and lead the charge in providing factual, accurate information and combating “fake news,” Prime Dr Keith Rowley has indicated. He did so yesterday as he launched TTT Limited—formerly CNMG—at Maraval Road, Port-of-Spain. “In closing CNMG, we’re opening the door to a brighter future,” Rowley added. Rowley said TTT needed to adhere to high standards because of the seriousness of the role the media plays in citizens’ lives.

Omarosa Manigault-Newman had a 'six-month fling' with the scandal-mired leader on a tiny Caribbean nation who was ousted from power and put on trial for corruption over claims he stole $16 million from public coffers, DailyMail.com can reveal. [snip] . They spent time on the island where he later built an $8 million mansion, nicknamed the 'White House,' which he is now accused of funding through graft...

Leaders from Caribbean islands are urging President Donald Trump to take climate change seriously before they disappear due to extreme weather conditions, according to reports. Hurricane season poses an existential threat to the islands as increased rainfall caused by climate change makes hurricanes stronger, experts say. Recently, leaders from the Caribbean began urging Trump to understand the gravity of global warming. “In 2017, we saw some of the most devastating and destructive hurricanes we’ve seen in our history,” Selwin Hart, Barbados’ ambassador to the U.S. told The Guardian. “This needs to be recognized.... This isn’t some scientific debate, it’s a...

Gaining international recognition is the first step in securing global reparations for the descendants of African slaves. Venezuela is joining the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in the fight for global slavery reparations, discussing appropriate compensation for centuries of injustice. During a speech entitled 'Reparations of Resistance to Action,' Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza urged Latin America and colonizing countries to assume responsibility for past wrongs which affected Africans and their ancestors around the world. The Venezuelan government is working to guarantee that the social rights of residents of African descent are respected, and officials have opened the floor to dialogue for...

Subtropical Storm Alberto has formed in the northwestern Caribbean Sea, hurricane forecasters said at 9 a.m. Friday. Alberto is the first named Atlantic storm of 2018, and has formed ahead of the traditional hurricane season which begins June 1. The storm is expected to bring heavy rain and rip currents to the Gulf Coast through Memorial Day weekend. Here's the current forecast cone for the storm:The main difference between a subtropical storm and tropical storm is core temperature, according to Shawn O'Neil, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Slidell. Subtropical storms have slightly lower core temperatures than...