CVM Lead Story: May 20, 2026 | @CVMTVNews

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[00:03:30]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Tonight on Global Lead, nearly 80 National Works Agency employees threaten industrial action amid fears about restructuring, job security, and the future of the agency.

[00:04:25]Then, a parliamentary standoff over the Firearm Licensing Authority report. Why does procedure matter so much to democratic trust?

[00:04:34]And later, Jamaica is now helping to lead a new Caribbean Special Economic Zone Association. But, can this country actually benefit from a world that is reordering global trade?

[00:04:47]Plus, we discuss Ebola, Raul Castro being indicted by the United States, and a super El Nino in Global Current. I'm Dione Quarry, and this >> [music] >> is Lead Stories Global Lead.

[00:05:03]>> [music] [music] [music] >> The government says it's moving to address concerns raised by workers at the National Works Agency.

[00:05:32]But, the Jamaica Civil Service Association says staff members remain restive amid fears about restructuring, pay issues, reclassification, and job security as the government moves towards new institutional arrangements, including the one road authority and NARA, the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority. Now, this isn't a conversation unique to Jamaica. Around the world, governments are trying to modernize public institutions while workers increasingly fear that efficiency may come at the cost of security. So, tonight we ask, can Jamaica modernize government without making public sector workers feel disposable?

[00:06:16]Joining in now is Teisha Clodagh Griffiths, president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association.

[00:06:21]Good evening, President Clodagh Griffiths, and welcome. Thanks so much for joining us inside Lead Story.

[00:06:28]Good evening to you and to my 30,000 You represent 30,000 people in the public sector here in Jamaica, but almost 80 of them now at the National Works Agency have raised concerns. What's the most immediate issue that has brought NWA workers to the point of of threatening industrial action?

[00:06:52]Well, just I just want to say that 90% of the staff called in sick today.

[00:06:58]Um so, there was actually an action today.

[00:07:02]So, we represent over 200 um workers at the National Works Agency right across the island.

[00:07:11]And we met with the organization in 2023 following the compensation restructuring.

[00:07:19]At that time, we recognized that there were some urgency in treating with matters of anomalies, and of course, we were just coming out of the the implementation, and surely there were some things that needed to be addressed urgently, including the position of the CEO, who was getting less pay than some of of persons he was supervising.

[00:07:43]We had that discussion and of course he would have taken the opportunity to address his anomaly only.

[00:07:52]We have reached out to the organizations on more than one occasion to say, "Here are the issues that the staff um is having. The issues are in relation to the anomalies where we have persons that are supervisors are getting less than those they supervise. We also had issues in relation to the implementation of vacation leave. Now, there was an agreement with the government of Jamaica for an additional one day to be applied to our vacation leave entitlement and the National Works Agency has a totally different way of applic- applying and the leave entitlement to the staff.

[00:08:32]There was also the issue of an increase in um in tailoring allowance for the auxiliary workers as well as the drivers. And to date, those persons are have not been paid.

[00:08:46]The One Road Author- The One Road Authority Aura, um that is also a concern and I don't believe the staff are fearful. I just believe that there needs to be engagement. Now, in 2023 when we started that discussion, there was an HR manager at the time and we would have engaged her, engaged the the CEO.

[00:09:13]She subsequently left. We re-engaged again. There was a new manager that came on board. We engaged her.

[00:09:21]Nothing.

[00:09:23]On Thursday of last week, we had a well, two of just over a month ago we had a meeting with the staff, our annual meeting, and the staff expressed concern and frustration in relation to dealing with these matters.

[00:09:39]So, I I discussed the matter again and last week Thursday, we got a letter from the staff indicating that they are going to take action if the matters have not been addressed. And this letter had 78 signatories to it.

[00:09:59]70 people 70 people from last week who said they were now, it appears, at a place where they needed some sort of resolution. You as the JCSA and as president had indicated that your members were restless. You've now told us that there was some industrial action taken today with workers now calling in sick. But yesterday as well, the government responded. Minister Robert Morgan, Minister of Work with responsibility for works, responded yesterday saying that workers must not be left in uncertainty and that he directed the NWA's chief executive to immediately engage staff and your association. Also went on to say that the government has indicated the Ministry of Finance has been engaged and that discussions are underway. Why has that not been enough to calm the concerns of your members?

[00:10:51]>> of your members?

[00:10:51]>> Let me just say though that before I engage with the National Works Agency, I personally reached out to the Ministry of Finance. There's nothing there that was submitted by the NWA. And and I can at least once defend the Ministry because the Ministry has been very integral in getting these anomalies addressed. All the the departments and agencies that have been engaged with, the Ministry has been very facilitating.

[00:11:22]So, I made sure to make that contact first and then I reached out to the National Works Agency. And if it takes 3 years for them to be engaged in the Ministry of Finance. Clearly, there was nothing done until the JCC would have called for action.

[00:11:40]And that's for me it's telling me that they don't respect the staff.

[00:11:47]And I am of the opinion that it is a deliberate attempt to frustrate them.

[00:11:54]I just want to make it clear that the letter that came from the National Works Agency came after I would have sent out the press release.

[00:12:07]I spoke directly to the CEO and in >> How many Rusty your members were?

[00:12:15]And that personally should have been about how Rusty your members were?

[00:12:18]Correct. And I And And to say to them normalcy cannot be guaranteed because I was trying to hold tell the members hold strain and let us engage the management before we um take any form of action. I don't believe the management thought that it was that important for us for them to respond to the association. It was after the workers decided that they were going to take action that they responded. Mr. Griffith, I have seconds to go. Talk to Jamaica. You have 70 odd people now, almost 80, who have indicated their displeasure. 70 of them called out today. What happens next?

[00:13:04]More than 70, it's 200 and something staff.

[00:13:08]Um we are I sent out a press release for them to return to work tomorrow um pending the meeting next Tuesday and I also asked them to wear black in solidarity. We are just suspending that process until the engagement is done.

[00:13:24]And after Tuesday, we will get back to where where we are if it is the Teacher Claudette Griffiths there talking to us as president of the Jamaica Civil Service Association on the discussions going on now with workers at the National Workers No, yes, the National Works Agency there, the NWA. She cut off a moment ago, but she was talking to us about the concerns of the staff there. Thanks so much for joining us Teacher Claudette Griffiths. Stay with us inside Lead Story. A walkout happened in Parliament yesterday. What exactly is that about and why is the Firearm Licensing Authority once again in the spotlight?

[00:14:09]Stay with us.

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[00:16:15]Now talking about an anti-corruption report that's now been sitting in Parliament, and it's been there for 51 days. It's not been tabled, it has not been published, and under section 56 of the Integrity Commission Act, it cannot be published until it's tabled. Which means as long as it remains where it is, signed for, received, locked in Gordon House, the public will never see it.

[00:16:46]Well, yesterday the opposition walked out of the House of Representatives after accusing the speaker of the House of failing to table that Integrity Commission report concerning the Firearm Licensing Authority. Now, you're seeing them walk out there on the screen, the members, but while this may sound procedural, it matters because in the kind of democracies that we're in, Westminster democracies, procedure is not a small thing. Parliamentary systems depend on trust in the rules, trust in oversight, and trust in the referee.

[00:17:21]That's the speaker. So, tonight, the bigger question is this.

[00:17:26]What happens when people start losing confidence in how democratic rules are applied? Joining me now is Peter Bunting, opposition spokesman on productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness, and member in the lower house. So, good evening, Mr. Bunting, and thank you for joining us in finally story, it's Global News.

[00:17:46]Good evening, Jordyn, and good evening to your viewers.

[00:17:50]For viewers who may only have heard about a walkout in Parliament, start us off first with what that means. What's exactly the issue with the FLA report as it currently stands?

[00:18:01]Well, just to uh segue from your introduction, this is not a procedural technicality.

[00:18:10]It is a test of whether Jamaica's anti-corruption architecture still works or whether it is being quietly neutralized by this JLP administration.

[00:18:25]The report, as we've heard in the media, concerns allegations of corruption, impropriety, and irregularities involving the grant, variation, and revocation of firearms. I just want to make it very clear here, Lead Story, since this has not been published, has not seen this, and can neither confirm nor deny the content of this parliamentary document, something that is at issue here. But, this is what you have heard, Peter Bunting, about the content of this report by the Integrity Commission. in a media story, and it has not been denied by by anyone who has access to the report.

[00:19:07]The There is clearly an overwhelming public interest in seeing this report.

[00:19:15]The FLA is not an ordinary entity. It is a public authority exercising coercive state power um and determining who may lawfully possess firearms. We know that in the past, I think it's about five or six years, there's been other reports that have spoken to these uh the corruption in proper right and irregularities there. The FLA has not um provided an annual report to cabinet and through cabinet to parliament for over seven years.

[00:19:53]This you cannot have such an important institution being run in such a shabby way.

[00:20:00]And the, you know, the very possession of the report um would be unlawful. So, it is interesting how someone who should not be in possession of the of the report would be able to bring up court action based on the contents of the report. So, the whole thing creates a very dangerous precedent.

[00:20:27]What we would if this is allowed to stand, then any public body under investigation could rush to court and use that filing as a cloak of of secrecy. Let me just clarify something here, Peter Bunting, because you have spoken about a court action coming out of this. Firearm Licensing Authority saying that they would have now um attempted to get the court involved on this. Parliament, as a result, has said that this matter is sub judicate, that it the court proceedings are active. But a previous Jamaican court ruling established that the tabling of such a report is a parliamentary internal affair immune from court jurisdiction. Has a court actually ordered Parliament not to table this report, yes or no? Because that seems to be for many people to talk about.

[00:21:17]>> not, and and a court will not, because if you look in the Ian Heels versus the Office of the Contractor General ruling, section 60, it said the speaker and president would have been acting intra vires, that is within their powers, by tabling the report submitted to it by the OCG. Their actions would be categorized as Parliament conducting their internal affairs, and as such their actions would be immune, immune from the jurisdiction of the court. So, there's no likelihood of there being any success in in such a court action. It is just a deliberate attempt to delay and postpone this report, and and frustrate the whole um scheme of the Integrity Commission and all oversight watchdogs like the Auditor General. If somehow the speaker could end up acting as a gatekeeper to protect the administration from embarrassment rather than as a uh you know, impartial president.

[00:22:34]>> So, let me clarify for those at home. This president that you have raised is important. It's Ian Heels and the Office of the Contractor General matter, because what we now have as the Integrity Commission was formerly um the Office of the Contractor General. There was some rearranging to have us now have the Integrity Commission. So, that is why that particular case matters. But you've imputed motive there onto the speaker of the house. Something that she said though in 2023 in a ruling Juliet Holness as speaker, she said um let me quote it here uh when she was talking about Integrity Commission reports submitted under Section 54 subsection 4 of the Integrity Commission Act, she said that they would be tabled as soon as possible after receipt by the Parliament having regard to the serious nature of the matters contained therein.

[00:23:27]Gordon House is now saying though in a release that the act sets no specific tabling timeline, which is what seems to be the controversy here, why we have 51 days without this report being tabled.

[00:23:39]Can both positions be true at the same time?

[00:23:42]It can't. And in fact, that if you were to go to the final sentence of that paragraph of the speaker's ruling in 2023, and it's not a previous speaker, it's a current speaker, the final sentence said, "No effort will be made to delay such reports."

[00:24:02]Yet, we've waited 51 days for this report to be tabled. And were it not perhaps for the media story, parliamentarians like myself would not even be aware that such a a report was at Parliament. And there other reports, and now you know, you cannot help but ask in whose interest is being served by delaying the tabling of this these reports. And as I started out, um you know, in my opening sentence, this is not just a procedural technicality.

[00:24:41]The if these reports can be delayed indefinitely at the whim of the presiding officers of Parliament, or the speaker or the president, then Jamaica's anti-corruption architecture, which relies on the oversight of Parliament.

[00:25:00]Remember, Parliament is not just the executive. Parliament is all parliamentarians, but with a special obligation on the opposition because obviously we don't support the government and we will be not we will not be compromised in criticizing and exposing any corruption, any abuse of power, any improprieties, any irregularities. That is why the laws, the various laws, both the Contractor General's and the Integrity Commission Act require taling of these reports.

[00:25:39]The taling of these reports is important, but you in particular being the voice on this then has people look and say you also have had and taken umbrage with the Integrity Commission and the reports. A previous Integrity Commission special report covering the period 2012 to 2018 named you as one of the former National Security Ministers who granted firearm permits to persons with criminal traces.

[00:26:04]During your tenure, you have publicly refused to sign the Integrity Commission's leadership code of conduct citing that what you described as flawed and misleading information in that report. So, you're tonight telling us that Parliament should table a new Integrity Commission report.

[00:26:24]>> as a fair journalist is say that Integrity Commission issued an addendum to that report which the Gleaner headlined as vindication of my position because in reality I acted consistently with the recommendation of the lawful appeal tribunal, the one established by the Firearms Act, and I never varied from that. So, there was an attempt made to muddy the water and and and pull me in to the mess created by the JLP administration, but I protested and in fairness to the Integrity Commission, they corrected the error in their original report. With that correction that we have right now, and your positioning on this help Jamaicans understand. 51 days this report has been before Parliament. We can't see it. We can't talk about it. We can't discuss it. Do we run the risk that every report could have somebody say, "I'm going to court on this particular issue." thereby barring Parliament and thus the rest of the country from finding out what the Integrity Commission has found?

[00:27:40]What we will have is that the reports like the ones tabled today that are reports um relating to relatively minor officials in the system and usually for breaches of of you know, not filing or not filing on time. Those reports you will see um come through without delay.

[00:28:03]But, the ones that uh affect the big fish, the ones that expose impropriety or corruption, especially those that will embarrass the government, um we we really um are in danger of action being brought.

[00:28:21]And when you realize that the government will be on both sides of this court action because it would In a sense, it would be the government that would be defending the action. So, there would be definitely no incentive for the government to move these quickly through the court system. So, it would It's really just a scheme to frustrate the anti-corruption bodies from operating as they were intended to by the law and to hide from the public matters that the public deserves to know. And uh let me just clarify for people at home it will be Attorney General against the Firearm Licensing Authority there and that is what Peter Bunting is saying would be the government against itself. We'll certainly be watching this matter. Peter Bunting, Opposition Spokesman on Productivity, Efficiency, and Competitiveness. Thanks so much for joining us inside Lead Story to talk to us about this and we'll continue to be watching this matter in Parliament.

[00:29:20]You're very welcome.

[00:29:22]Taking a break and coming back to you inside Lead Story because Jamaica is fancy. Inside Global Lead we're going to talk to you about what we have done.

[00:29:31]We've expanded our economic zone reach [music] but at a time where we are having all sorts of realignments of global trade, [music] can Jamaica benefit? We'll talk about that next.

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[00:31:24]>> [music] [music] >> Can Jamaica win from global supply chain disruption? Well, that's what we're looking at right now because the world economy is changing. COVID-19, shipping disruptions, US-China tensions, and global instability have forced countries and companies to reconsider where they manufacture goods, where they store products, and who they trade with.

[00:32:02]And that has created a new conversation around nearshoring, moving production closer to major markets.

[00:32:10]Tonight, Jamaica is positioning itself as part of that conversation through the new Caribbean Special Economic Zone, CaribSEZ.

[00:32:18]But, the question is not whether this sounds good. It does. The question is whether Jamaica is actually ready to compete. Joining me now is Kelly Tom Hamilton, CEO of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority. Good evening, and thank you for joining us in Side Line Story.

[00:32:35]Good evening. Thank you so much for having me. Let's start off with the basics, Kelly-Ann, because many people are hearing this conversation going, "Who's a what's a? The where she come from?" All right. Let's talk about where you are from and what this new thing CaribSEZ is and why Jamaicans should care about it.

[00:32:55]Thank you for that. And the the what's and why is quite important, and I want to step back a little bit because whenever we talk about special economic zones, we get the question, "What is that? Why does it matter? Why should we care?" So, special economic zones, Jamaica has a strong history in that space. Free zones existed from the 1970s.

[00:33:15]In 2016, we transitioned from free zones to special economic zones. The reason why we transitioned was as a function of our international obligations with the OECD, with the World Trade Organization.

[00:33:28]So, the government at the time developed a special economic zone act that transitioned us from free trade zone to SEZ. The major difference between the two, under the current SEZ regime, companies can sell their goods, sell their SEZ products anywhere, domestic, overseas. It is we are you're allowed to serve any market that you so choose.

[00:33:52]Under the free zone, there was a requirement for 80% of your output to be exported. Now, in Jamaica currently, um we have approximately 110 companies operating in our SEZ. And just to note that the SEZ Act of 2016 implemented or established the Special Economic Zone Authority. And what we are, we regulate the space that is SEZ.

[00:34:19]And one of the things that we guard against as a Special Economic Zone Authority is the whole issue of profit shifting and base erosion. So, those those issues will cause a country to be on a blacklist or a greylist and you know that is not somewhere that we want to be. So, as an authority, what we have done with our 110 companies is we have sought to develop a network of special economic zones, specifically Caribbean special economic zones. So, what we have created is a Caribbean special economic zone association. And I may be ahead of myself a little bit.

[00:35:00]What the SEZ offers to companies is incentives within which they can operate that makes it more cost-effective for business. So, under the special economic zone regime, companies pay a lower corporate income tax rate. They're paying a rate of 12.5% which can go to as low as 7.75%.

[00:35:21]They don't pay duties on items that they import for use in their zones and they're not paying the general consumption tax or value added tax which is a 15%. So, it really does make business more cost-effective. Now, to the the the how you started in relation to nearshoring, SEZs provide an opportunity, particularly for companies that are looking to expand, looking to export, looking to going to a new line of business, the SEZ regime may work for that company. And I say may because it doesn't work for every business.

[00:35:57]>> And every business might not be best fit given how they operate, what it is that they do to be part of that special economic zone here. And I mentioned that nearshoring conversation to tie in to something that leads story has spoken about with the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, them saying with global supply chain shifts for all the doom and gloom that we're talking about, hey Jamaica, this is also something that we can look at given that we're only 4 hours away from For a billion people on the planet, this might be something that's important. But let's talk about what has happened here. This development now I'm saying, Jamaica, we have these special economic zones and we're branching out. We're pulling other people now into this broader pool.

[00:36:39]Because a week ago on May 13th in Panama City at the 12th World Free Trade Zones Organization World Conference, Jamaica, tiny us, we led the launch of the Caribbean Special Economic Zone Association, Caribsez. It's the first association of its kind in the Caribbean and its founding members were Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, the Dominican Republic, and Aruba committing to having policy alignment and shared um standards. That sounds great. Two things though, I noticed that it's called Caribsez.

[00:37:15]And for many Jamaicans, they expected more of the Caribbean to be in there.

[00:37:19]Sadly, we don't have the 13 CARICOM member states, the 15 CARICOM member states in there, for example. So, how influential is that? But start with how big it is for us to even have this before we talk about why everybody else is not part of it. Right. Right. So, it it is big because it creates a moment for our special economic zones to have a voice regionally. Right now, we have approximately 5,000 special economic zones operating across the world. And we have the World Free Zone Organization, which note, they were very instrumental in the formulation of this Caribbean SEZ because they understand that countries that have similar economic trajectories, similar bases, similar cultural heritage, etc., it makes sense for them to work together um to work through the issues that they may have where trade is concerned, where growing business is concerned. And so, it is a big deal for us to come together as a region. Now, one of the things that we note too is that we have a strong Latin American presence in special economic zones. And Dominican Republic being at the table for the launch of the Caribbean SEZ Association is important because of the experience that they bring. 50 years of SEZ free trade zone experience. We also have Aruba at the table. We have Trinidad and we have St. Lucia and Grenada of course as you mentioned. It's important for us to create a space where we share the information, share the learnings and importantly share the business opportunities. So to your question about why we don't have everybody at the table, it's not closed yet. We we we had a date for a launching the association and the on that day we did get interest from a number of our other other Caribbean countries indicating that they do want to support the association. However, um they didn't sign on the day. And so the conversations around that are not closed. We do expect that we will have more countries signing on, but it doesn't it doesn't limit in terms of the access that we have to a whole network of special economic zones. As I mentioned, it is supported by the World Free Zone Organization which is the global body for for SEZs. And so the the learnings that we can get from them, the opportunities that they can provide are are going to be immeasurable. For us in the Caribbean, we have our own issues that we have to work through in relation to to trade. You know, how how do we go about making it more efficient? How do we ensure that we're able to move goods out of the country?

[00:40:05]>> So how do we work on things like ports and energy infrastructure and customs and speed of approvals? Those sorts of practical things that critics say this looks nice on paper, but in reality won't actually move those big ticket items now so that Jamaica and the rest of the Caribbean might be able to benefit. How do you respond?

[00:40:23]So, no, but we have to we have to we have to address the issues in a way that we have to first identify the issues, and you just did, right?

[00:40:36]Customs, the speed at which we move, the speed at which we're able to process the applications, how we support the the infrastructure around building out industry. How do we ensure that we have the capacity to meet the supply that we will be going after? So, doing that collectively, history has shown where that is a better approach than trying to do it alone. And so, that was really the the position that we took in in in determining that this association would be a good a good mode for us to get in front of the the the the the networks that we need to get in front of, get in front of the businesses that we want to push in order to drive growth in our own special economic zones here in Jamaica.

[00:41:25]A country, for example, like Dominica, their their special economic zone or free trade zone regime is completely embedded with their customs house, for example.

[00:41:36]>> or Dominican Republic? Dominican Republic. Apologies. Domi- Thank you for that. And so, that is something that we can learn from as Jamaica. You know, one of the things Jamaica has been very good at is And And we have had to do There is no cookie-cutter approach for Jamaica.

[00:41:52]We we are special in every way. And so, anything that we do has to be tailored to our Jamaican landscape. And in And And what we have found, too, is that we are the leader in our in our space in SEZ in terms of the Caribbean, Dominican Republic um um be- being an an anomaly there. But, we have given guidance to countries in terms of how you develop the SEZ because what we don't want is to create a situation where we are all competing for for for the resources. In many conferences that I've been to, one of the things that we hear continuously from all the countries across the region is we are geographically located in a space that is that makes us ideal for trade and commerce. Jamaica markets the same thing. And so, what we we have as our own country in terms of our our our benefit really is how we facilitate business. And that is something you you will hear particularly from our SEZ clients, the facilitation that we're able to provide. So, for us, it is going even deeper and taking the lessons learned from the countries, coming together to determine together, you know, how do we go after these issues that face us, right? You know, we're looking at um net net zero in terms of of our ships and the fact that we want to get to that space. How do we treat with the energy consumption?

[00:43:18]>> that's those are emissions questions as well. So, getting to net zero carbon emissions, is that what you're ta- taking a look at so that we can have a healthier planet while we're moving goods and doing the logistics of these things. These are big important questions that carry What is it? Carry SEZ or Caribsez?

[00:43:35]>> Yes.

[00:43:36]Caribsez?

[00:43:36]>> Caribsez or Caribsez. Okay. That sounds good. So, Caribsez then, this new association, these Caribbean countries, Jamaica at the front, also having countries like the Dominican Republic and Aruba as part of this have to sit and map out. And as you said to us, Kelly-Ann Hamilton, as CEO of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, more countries are likely to be on the way. We'll be keeping up with this conversation because if money is to be made during this time, especially during global Mhm, what do we call it?

[00:44:10]Reorienting of trade routes. Let's see if Jamaica can in fact benefit. Thank you so very much for joining us this evening >> [music] >> inside >> Thank you very much. lead stories at Global Leader. We'll take a break and come back to you because we have international stories for you to pay attention to. Ebola, what could be happening next in Cuba, and is it going to just be very, very hot or even something more? Stay with us inside Global Leads, Global Current.

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[00:45:34]>> Yeah.

[00:45:35]Looking at all the major issues every Tuesday at 9:00 p.m. It's Fan Central.

[00:45:42]>> [music] [music] >> It's the creativity on the left.

[00:45:58]Brilliant.

[00:45:59]Worth every penny.

[00:46:01]And hammered into a Riley!

[00:46:03]Just step over there. He walked past him. And then it's just a bit of magic.

[00:46:23]>> [music] [music] >> We now turn to the global stories shaping the world and why they matter to Jamaica and the Caribbean.

[00:46:48]Our story is about Ebola. As the World Health Organization has declared the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo a public health emergency of international concern.

[00:47:00]The WHO says there have been hundreds of suspected cases and warned the outbreak could be larger than currently detected.

[00:47:10]Now, COVID taught small states like Jamaica hard lesson. Distant outbreaks do not necessarily stay distant. Here's the BBC.

[00:47:19]The World Health Organization says that the Ebola outbreak in Central Africa is spreading faster and more widely than previously thought. 131 people have died and more than 500 are infected, mostly in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

[00:47:33]Cases are emerging in more towns and cities there and the disease has also spread to neighboring Uganda. An outbreak in West Africa in 2014 claimed more than 11,000 lives. I'm joined now by Sir Peter Horby, epidemiologist and director of Pandemic Sciences Institute at Oxford University. Thanks very much for being with us.

[00:47:53]What's the latest latest information that we have and and how concerning is it to see this continued spread?

[00:48:00]Uh thanks, Anita. It's a fast-moving situation and what we're seeing is that it's only been, you know, a week since it was first diagnosed that it's this particular strain of Ebola virus been to Guinea.

[00:48:13]And the testing of cases is accelerating, but the positivity rate is quite high. So, amongst the cases, >> [laughter] >> the suspected cases being tested, roughly 50-60% of testing positive, which is suggesting that actually the outbreak is quite widespread in that area. And so, it's a significant concern, particularly for DRC, but also for for neighboring countries.

[00:48:36]Are actions being taken now even if um at the start of this outbreak they weren't? Because this is a different strain to previous Ebola outbreaks, isn't it?

[00:48:47]Yeah, I mean, it is a very challenging um outbreak because it looks like it's fairly extensive from the information that's coming in. It's in a difficult place.

[00:48:58]Um we've seen cases in bigger urban settings. There's quite large populations in those areas. There's insecurity with with rebel groups and and fighting. There's a lot of cross-border movement. There's displaced people um from the conflict. So, it's a difficult place to work and with you know, around 500 suspected cases, you're talking potentially many thousands of contacts that need tracing in a very difficult place. So, there's a huge amount of activity going on now in terms of trying to control transmission and make sure that it doesn't spread any further. And and how much can the international community help uh in this, as you said, very very difficult circumstances?

[00:49:40]Well, the the the first priority is, you know, identifying as many cases as possible, getting them appropriate care, and isolating them, then tracing their contacts to put them in quarantine or put them under monitoring so that we can stop the transmission.

[00:49:55]The next sort of big area is communicating with the public in the the affected areas and other areas to make sure they And that public communication will be incredibly important as the World Health Organization has said that more than 500 people already are suspected and there are hopes that it doesn't break out like it did the last time where over 11,000 people were killed. We now move to Cuba where the United States has indicted former Cuban leader Raul Castro over the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft operated by the exile group Brothers to the rescue.

[00:50:40]Castro is now 94 years old and the case is raising questions about whether this is principally about justice or whether it signals a harder phase of US pressure on Cuba. For Jamaica and CARICOM though, we have to watch it. Cuba remains a major regional partner in medicine although that has reduced significantly, education and diplomacy. Here's ABC News.

[00:51:05]He's charged for ordering the shootdown of two civilian planes 30 years ago killing three Americans and sinking US-Cuba relations. Good afternoon everyone. I'm Kira Phillips. Breaking news, it's a historic day for Cuba and Cuban Americans on the anniversary of the day the country was established. The DOJ announcing the indictment of former Cuban president Raul Castro. Those charges including allegations of murder after those pilots carrying humanitarian aid to Cuba were killed. All of this happening as Cubans endure a near total blackout and a collapsing economy amidst severe sanctions from the Trump administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the issues on the island have been created by this regime prompting a response from the Cuban foreign minister who shifted the blame back to the US. Joining me now DC managing editor Katherine Valder also our Matt Rivers who's there in Miami.

[00:51:59]We'll get reaction from him in just a minute but first Katherine what what do we know?

[00:52:03]Yeah well this indictment actually has just been unsealed by the Department of Justice. It's charging of course Raul Castro with murder over his alleged role in the 1996 shoot down of two planes that were carrying uh that humanitarian aid that resulted in the death of three Americans. That's according to a newly unsealed court document that DOJ just unsealed. They're intending to announce this in a short time from now in a press conference where Matt is down there in Miami. But it certainly does Kira this indictment mark a major escalation um in the US in the ongoing conflict with Cuba uh as they are trying to achieve regime change there. So lots of course to be said on this. I know that Matt is surely hearing from uh more people on the ground as this news is just now unsealed. That indictment charging Castro with seven counts including conspiracy to kill US nationals, destruction of aircraft, and murder for each of the four passengers aboard the planes being flown by brothers to the rescue. We'll talk about that group that conducted these rescue missions for Cuban exiles that sought to flee the country in a minute but Matt what kind of reaction are you getting from Cuban Americans in Miami?

[00:53:10]Well I think from a lot of people that we're speaking to down here the the phrase I would use is this is a long time coming. I think young two different levels. On the one hand speaking about this specific crime in and of itself they're going to say this is justice served. It's it's been a way too long that we haven't seen charges related to this and so this is a good thing according to a lot of the Cuban Americans that we're speaking to but I think beyond that I think there's there's almost superlatives that are going to be used here that it's beyond justice one individual crime that now people the United States government finally taking the step to say Raul Castro is a murderer. And I think that that's what you're going to hear from people in Miami saying that that's something they can use, you know, throughout. Uh that that's much more broadly speaking. They can talk about this man and the regime and the family that has run that island in these sorts of terms. It's the United States government taking the formal step of making these charges and it goes beyond just one individual crime. But then I think beyond that, you're looking at what does this mean for the government of Cuba? We all saw what What does it mean for the government of Cuba indeed? The acting United States Attorney General Todd Blanche today said, "I we expect him to show up here by his own will or by another and go to prison." And those words have to be taken seriously since in January we saw the head of state of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, removed from his country and removed from office.

[00:54:35]And finally, a super El Nino. Or is it?

[00:54:39]Because scientists are warning about the possibility of a super El Nino event that could bring major weather disruptions across the world. For small states like ours, climate extremes are no longer just environmental stories though. They're economic stories, food security stories with the drought concerned, and water stories. Here is a BBC.

[00:55:03]Leo Donnell first to kind of go through some of this terminology we heard from the acting attorney general. He said this is not a show indictment and tell I've been going through it during this news conference and he's right. There there is not a lot of, I would say, smoking gun evidence here, at least when it comes to Raul Castro. Essentially, as Jose pointed out, the one piece of evidence they say is that as leader of the military, he grinned and that they had trained these MiG pilots to focus for that incorrect insert there as we continue to speak about what's taking place there with United States' indictment of Raul Castro. He is currently in Cuba on that island there, but he is considered to be one of the most powerful men in that country, even in his retirement. As it he succeeded his brother Fidel Castro and then now has handed over power to Miguel Diaz-Canel. Well, unfortunately, we won't be able to hear about the super El Nino tonight, especially as Jamaica's Met Office has now issued its own warnings about higher temperatures and drought in the coming months. But tonight's stories have been important.

[00:56:17]Workers fearing displacement, parliamentary conflict, global trade shifts, Ebola, Cuba, climate risk, all of that going on. But they're connected by this big question. As systems come under pressure, who is ready? Are governments ready to modernize without leaving workers behind? Are democratic institutions strong enough to maintain public trust? Are small states prepared for the world that is becoming much more fragmented, much more competitive, and much more unstable? Because well, the threat is economic, but