The Chagos Archipelago is a group of over 60 islands located in the Indian Ocean some 500km (310 miles) south of the Maldives. The isolated location of the islands resulted in a unique ecology and culture. It was also deemed strategic by the US and UK militaries.

West Island, Chagos, pic: Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Flickr CC)

In 1965 the UK bought the Chagos and within 8 years forcibly removed all its human inhabitants, who resettled on Mauritius, the Seychelles and in the UK. The island of Diego Garcia was converted into a military base. It is the only inhabited island of the Chagos, the entire population consisting of US and UK military personnel and their civilian employees. Before being deported, the population of Diego Garcia was around 2,000 Chagos Islanders. Their legacy remains in the form of ghost towns and overgrown graveyards. Ironically, Western travelers are able to visit the island while the native population remains in forced exile.

From an opinion piece in the Guardian:

The sunlight streaked through the stained glass windows of the church and the small copra factory remained largely intact. I was horrified to find dozens of international travellers living among the ruins while the islanders themselves remained pariahs, exiled by their own government. Why were these itinerant travellers allowed to stay?

More recently, the argument to keep the Chagos Islanders away from the land of their birth is environmental, or more specifically, based on the conservation of the islands unique ecology. I guess we are meant to believe that an American military base has no environmental impact.

2,000 islanders who lead a basic, low-impact existence compared with 1,700 US military personnel and 1,500 civilian contractors who built shops, restaurants, an airport, a harbor and a cinema. You do the math.

Conservation? pic: Official U.S. Navy Imagery (Flickr CC)

In 2010 a WikiLeaks cable from US diplomats to the British Foreign Office revealed that the setting up of a marine reserve in the Chagos would effectively end native claims for resettlement. The conservation argument appears to be a smoke screen. If it isnt, surely some agreement could be reached allowing the islands natives to return.

Read more about the Chagos Islanders plight in Scientific American.

View original post here:

Chagos Islands: Imperialism with an environmental face

The UKs largest community wind farm project is set to generate more than 20 million over the next two decades for local people, the schemes backers have said.

Residents in Scotlands remote Western Isles have secured more than 10 million for the project to erect three 2.3 megawatt turbines on the island of South Uist.

The money raised from the renewable energy scheme will be reinvested in the community, with funds earmarked to improve tourism, leisure and port facilities and boost local businesses.

The Storas Uibhist Trust, which manages a 93,000-acre estate covering the islands of Benbecula, Eriskay and South Uist following a community buy-out by residents, has secured 8 million financing from the Co-operative Bank for the project.

The scheme, which will see the turbines installed by August, has also received 1 million of grant and loan funding from Social Investment Scotland and 2.4 million from the European Regional Development Fund.

Angus MacMillan, chairman of Storas Uibhist, said: This project has always been about generating income to reinvest to the local community for the benefit of the people who live on the islands of Eriskay, Benbecula and South Uist.

We are now looking to the future when Storas Uibhist, in partnership with other local organisations, can make the best use of this revenue and the people of this estate can take their future into their own hands and transform these islands into a vibrant and growing place to live and work.

This could only have happened with community ownership and demonstrates that when communities can manage their own assets, they are able to transform their futures.

Chris Matthews, renewable energy manager at the Co-operative Bank, said: This scheme pushes the boundaries of community renewable energy. The quality of life for many residents on the islands will be improved as a result, helping to create local jobs and diversify its economy at a time when, like many communities, it is facing significant economic and social pressures.

Residents of the islands took control of the estate, which is famous for sea trout and brown trout fishing and home to wildlife including golden eagles and white-tailed eagles, five years ago.

More here:

Islands’ wind farm to generate £20m

LONDON - A Channel Islands online auction house has angered Ronald Reagan's foundation by claiming to offer a vial that once contained his blood.

Follow this link:

Reagan Foundation angry about alleged Ronald Reagan blood vial auction in Channel Islands

A powerful solar telescope billed as the largest in Europe opened Monday on Spain's Canary Islands which scientists say will allow them to study the sun in unprecedented detail.

See the article here:

Europe's largest solar telescope opens in Canary Islands

land once had the worlds largest fleet of cargo-carrying sailing ships. Until the Thirties, when the rest of the world was turning to steam, these then-poor islands had 30 windjammers. One, the four-masted barque, Pommern, built in Glasgow in 1903, transported grain from Australia to England under the command of its land captain. Pommern is now moored at the harbour of the only town, Mariehamn, adjacent to an excellent maritime museum.

As you might expect with so many rocky islands, there are plenty of shipwrecks (no doubt the ships were captained by non-landers). Two years ago, the islands made headlines when a diver exploring a 170-year-old wreck discovered some old bottles, still with corks in. They turned out to contain the worlds oldest drinkable champagne, 168 bottles in all, two of which were sold last year, fetching 31,000. The government will be auctioning 11 more next month, on June 9, the day the islands celebrate autonomy from Finland.

The 60ft boat was found off the small island of Fgl, a 40-minute ferry crossing from the land mainland. On my first visit to the islands, before the champagne wreck had been investigated, I holidayed in Fgl with friends and their five children. As an add-on to a city break in Stockholm, we rented a rust-red wooden cottage perched on a smooth granite rock, where the placid sea was reed-edged and elegant swans swam.

It was a week of Blyton-esque adventures outings in our own little motorboat, horse riding along flowery lanes, playing on a sandy beach, kayaking between low, bare skerries, spotting sea eagles and fishing for pike with a local fisherman. As well as the motorboat, the cottage came with a sauna and a fish-smoker but no tin-opener. It was all a bit down-at-heel but charming. Make-do-and-mend, was how my friend, Lucy, described it.

This time around, I was staying in more swish accommodation: one of the new cliff houses at a remote hotel on the northernmost coast of the main island. Here, at HavsVidden, sleek holiday homes on stilts sprout from boulders. Their interiors are like spreads from a Scandinavian style magazine. They would be wonderful places in which to hole up for a week or more, under big skies that, at 60 degrees north, never get dark in midsummer. Sadly I wasnt staying long.

On a day trip by car, I passed windmills and apple orchards to visit the ruined fortress of Bomarsund, the largest building ever built on the land Islands. Erected in the 19th century, it was built by the Russians to guard the westernmost point of their empire. All that now remains are sections of its enormous rosy granite walls. The British attacked in 1854 and, so the story goes, the Russian commander welcomed his captors with a cup of tea. Finnish soldiers garrisoned at the fort were transported to England, says Gun.

There are thousands of islands in this archipelago, and, when you start to look beyond their simple beauty, just as many stories.

Getting there

SAS (0871 226 7760; flysas.com) offers flights to Stockholm from 158 return. AirAland (airaland.com) flies from Stockholm or Helsinki to the land Islands from 24 one-way.

If you prefer not to fly, DFDS (0871 522 9955; dfds.co.uk) has ferries from Harwich to Esbjerg from where you can travel by train to Stockholm, via Copenhagen and Malm. Ecker Linjen (00358 18 28000; eckerolinjen.ax) has two-hour ferry journeys from north of Stockholm to the land Islands, from 11 return, including the two-hour bus transfer from Stockholm.

Read the original post:

?land Islands, Finland: an Enid Blyton holiday

GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands - Police in the Cayman Islands say they have recovered the body of a Canadian man who apparently drowned after jumping off a boat.

Read the original post:

Body of Canadian boater recovered from ocean floor off popular Cayman Islands beach

JENKINTOWN, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Lush landscape, magnificent wildlife, remarkable volcanoes, fascinating flora and fauna, and the amazing Galapagos Islands define Ecuador, South Americas hidden jewel. Now, thanks to Friendly Planet Travel, a leading tour operator that offers high-quality, affordable vacation packages to exotic destinations worldwide, travelers can explore the legendary islands that inspired Charles Darwins theory of evolution in style on the eight-day Galapagos Islands Wildlife Discovery tour for just $2,799.

We are thrilled to announce our new Galapagos Islands Wildlife Discovery package, says Peggy Goldman, President of Friendly Planet Travel. This tour offers upgraded hotels on our island-based program plus improved transportation between islands. Weve added a flight between San Cristobal and Isabela Islands, which allows travelers to spend less time traveling and more time exploring the fantastic scenery and wildlife. Travelers will be hard pressed to find a package that offers a better value for money with such a high degree of personal service than this program.

Galapagos Islands Wildlife Discovery includes round-trip airfare from Miami via LAN airlines, including fuel surcharges, airline taxes, and fees; all transportation, including intra-flights and transportation between islands; and accommodations in first-class hotels and superior-class island lodges. The tour also includes 14 meals; a truly fascinating program of exploration with a naturalist guide, on San Cristobal, Isabela and Santa Cruz Islands; and a Galapagos National Park fee ($100) and transit control card ($10).

The exploration begins in Quito, one of the loveliest South American cities, and the capital city of Ecuador, where travelers stay for a night before departing for San Cristobal Island, the eastern most island of the Galapagos, known for Carola Beach, and a plethora of sea turtles, sea lions, and marine iguanas. A stop at the local Interpretation Center to learn about the islands unique wildlife and geology, and a hike to Frigate Hill, which overlooks the rugged coastline and small town of Puerto Baquerizo Moreno, round out the first day on the Galapagos.

The tour continues the following day with a snorkeling adventure to Isla Lobos, translated as Sea Lion Island, for the best sea lion encounter in the Galapagos. From there, travelers sail to Kicker Rock, home to the islands best snorkeling.

The following day, travelers depart from San Cristobal via a short flight to Isabela Island, the largest island in the Galapagos. Isabela is constantly changing due to six shield volcanoes that render it one of the most thrilling volcanically active spots on the planet. Travelers hike to El Muro de las Lagrimas, (Wall of Tears) built by prisoners during the time Isabela was a penal colony, and explore Tintoreras, a set of small islets filled with hidden coves and beaches.

Travelers then depart from gorgeous Isabela Island and journey to Santa Cruz Island via speedboat, arriving at Puerto Ayora. They spend the day at the El Chato reserve, home to the Giant Tortoise, exploring the incredible lava tunnels, volcanic sinkholes, and fascinating wildlife. The day ends with a visit to the Charles Darwin Research Station to learn about the ongoing conservation efforts to preserve the Galapagos Islands. The tour concludes in Quito with a day at leisure.

For travelers with a bit more time, an optional three-day extension to Quito is available starting at $299. In Quito, travelers explore the capital city and UNESCO World Heritage site, known for its mountains and snow-capped volcanoes, on an included city tour with stops in modern Quito as well as the citys historic district, and featuring San Agustin Convent, San Francisco Church, and the City Museum.

Friendly Planets 8-day Galapagos Islands Wildlife Discovery tour is available for $2,799 on the departure dates of Sept. 15 and Dec. 1, if booked by June 27. Other dates are available at slightly higher prices. Friendly Planet also offers two additional Galapagos packages: Ecuador and Galapagos Islands and Peru, Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands.

Read the rest here:

Friendly Planet Travel Offers New Galapagos Islands Wildlife Discovery Tour

The mid-range Tamanu Beach Resort on Aitutaki. Picture: David May Source: National Features

The luxurious Aitutaki Lagoon Resort and Spa. Picture: David May Source: National Features

LITTLE specks in a vast seascape, the Cook Islands are a collection of 15 atolls, cays and volcanic islands, and extravagantly beautiful.

They are a Gauguin palette of handsome Polynesians, craggy mountain peaks, dense jungles, turquoise lagoons fringed by reefs and some of the best white-sand beaches imaginable.

TripAdvisor has just released its travellers' choice survey of the top beach destinations for 2012. It ranks three Cook Islands beaches among the best 10 in the South Pacific, up against those of Tahiti and Australia. Judged by fellow travellers, five Australian beaches and one in Fiji made the list. The winner, if you can afford it, was Tahiti's Bora Bora.

But it was the three lesser-known gems of the Cook Islands that raised many eyebrows.

The beaches around the lagoon on Aitutaki scored second place. On the main island of Rarotonga, Titikaveka Beach ranked No.3 and Arorangi No.10. And there's a range of affordable accommodation at each.

Titikaveka stretches around the southeast corner of Rarotonga and is home to out-of-the-way boutique properties such as the elegant Little Polynesian Resort or self-contained villas at Royale Takitumu and Makayla Palms.

Coconut palms fringe the beach on the edge of the magnificent lagoon, where local fishermen wade waist-deep every day with spears and nets almost to the line of surf breaking on the outer reef.

Over on the west coast, it's much the same story at Arorangi, but there are also larger resorts such as the Edgewater, Sunset Resort and Crown Beach Resort, with arguably Rarotonga's finest dining at its Windjammer Restaurant.

View original post here:

Cook Islands shimering gems

click here to continue to article cliquez ici pour lire l'article weiter zum Artikel clicca qui per visualizzare l'articolo weiter zum Artikel ir a la noticia klik hier om door te gaan naar het artikel Yazya devam etmek iin tklayn Tovbb a cikkre

See original here:

Singapore willing to return Riau Islands airspace

6th Meeting of FMSC on RAMSI Notes Progress in Solomon Islands Police Force

6th MEETING OF THE FORUM MINISTERIAL STANDING COMMITTEE ON THE REGIONAL ASSISTANCE MISSION TO SOLOMON ISLANDS

PRESS RELEASE(56/1218 May 2012

The 6th meeting of the Forum Ministerial Standing Committee (FMSC) on the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI) has concluded in Honiara noting significant progress of the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force (RSIPF) and the improved security situation in Solomon Islands with further discussions on the planned withdrawal of RAMSIs military component in the second half of 2013.

In opening the Ministerial Meeting the Hon. Walter Folotau Acting Prime Minister & Minister for Communications and Civil Aviation remarked that as the meeting reflected on the many achievements that RAMSI has made over the last nine years, under successive Solomon Islands Governments (SIG) that it was fitting that we remind ourselves of what our Forum Leaders entrusted this forum to do. The wisdom behind the existence of this FMSC must be respected and Solomon Island respects that.

Mr Folotalu further emphasised that : It is the wish of this country that you note their concerns, acknowledge their challenges and establish an agreed way forward. All of us will be judged not by how RAMSI began but how it was completed. We want to leave behind a Solomon Islands that is stronger, more resilient and more capable to handle its internal and external issues. We want to be able to tell the rest of the world that we are able to address our regional issues in a meaningful and sustainable manner.

The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat Mr Tuiloma Neroni Slade acknowledged the work undertaken by RAMSI over the past nine years has seen significant successes, particularly in the rebuilding of the economic infrastructure, policing and correctional services, and endeavours to ensure long-term sustainability of the country in line with the SIG-RAMSI Partnership Framework.

At the same time, challenges remain and will continue to be in existence in the course of advancing the work of RAMSI, including during the transition period. The solution to addressing the challenges faced by the Solomon Islands can only be found through genuine negotiations between parties, and a clear identification of the priorities of the government," said Mr Slade.

The Hon Clay Forau Soalaoi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade of Solomon Islands; the Hon. Richard Marles MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Island Affairs of Australia; Hon. Teinakore Bishop, Minister of Education, Marine Resources and Tourism of the Cook Islands; Hon. Alfred Carlot, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vanuatu attended the one day meeting.

The meeting was also attended by the Triumvirate comprising the RAMSI Special Coordinator, Mr Nicholas Coppel; Solomon Islands Permanent Secretary for RAMSI, Mr Jeffrey Scott-Kauha; and the Pacific Islands Forum Representative to Solomon Islands, Mr Sakiusa Rabuka. As the representative of the Forum Chair, the meeting was chaired by Ms Ruth Nuttall.

See the original post here:

Progress in Solomon Islands Police Force

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Dublin - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/825npr/4q11_marshall_isla) has announced the addition of IE Market Research Corp.'s new report "4Q11 Marshall Islands Mobile Operator Forecast, 2012 - 2015: National Telecommunications Authority in Marshall Islands to have approximately 17,000 mobile subscriber connections in 2015" to their offering.

Mobile Operator Forecast on the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) provides key operational metrics for Marshall Islands' wireless market and is one of the best forecasts in the industry. We provide five-year forecasts at the operator level going out to 2015. We also provide quarterly historical and forecast data starting in 4Q2008 and ending in 4Q2013. The mobile network operator covered for the Marshall Islands is National Telecommunications Authority (NTA). Our Mobile Operator Forecasts are updated quarterly and are available for one-time delivery or through regular updates.

Companies Covered in this Country Mobile Operator Forecast:

Annual Results & Forecasts for each of the above operators is covered in this report for: CY 2008-CY 2015. Quarterly Results & Forecasts are covered for: December 2008 - December 2013

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/825npr/4q11_marshall_isla

Source: IE Market Research Corp.

Read the original:

Research and Markets: 4Q11 Marshall Islands Mobile Operator Forecast, 2012 - 2015: National Telecommunications ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico Hundreds of thousands of red baby crabs are invading the Cayman Islands in a seasonal migration that residents say is unusually heavy this year.

The crabs are blanketing roads, scurrying across yards and scratching their way up homes and buildings in a process that scientists say will last about a month.

"People living in the coast will have them everywhere," said Tim Austin, deputy director of the Cayman Islands' Environment Department, on Wednesday. "They get in houses, into your AC system. Anywhere there's a gap, they'll find it. They're trying to get somewhere where they'll live happily."

The baby crabs, which are smaller than a thumbnail, were born in the ocean a few weeks ago and are emerging along rocky shores, seeking forests and wetlands near the coast where they will remain until they reproduce and head back to sea to deposit their eggs, Austin said. While the babies are red, the species is known as the black land crab because of the dark purple color it takes on as it ages.

It is likely that the recent "supermoon" and low tides have made it easier for the baby crabs to reach land, which could help explain the increase this year, he said. Most of them are overrunning Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, two of three islands that make up the archipelago.

The baby crabs do not migrate every year, in part because of ocean currents, tides and wind conditions, but adult crabs migrate every year to the ocean during the start of the rainy season, usually in May. Their migration has already occurred.

The government urges people to try to avoid the crabs as they drive, but it is nearly impossible not to hit them.

"It's a minefield of flattened crabs. You'll just see hundreds of splats," said Jim Andrews, 48, who lives with his family in the southeast end of Grand Cayman.

His house has been invaded by crabs as well.

"This year, we just saw tons of the tiny little newborns," he said. "You can hear them crawling on the windowsills."

Visit link:

Hundreds of thousands of baby red crabs invade Cayman Islands

Baby red crabs have infested the Cayman Islands by the hundreds of thousands, in an unusually heavy migration season that has caused havoc. If local superstition is any indicator, the Caribbean may face a rough hurricane season.

The crabs have scurried on past the immediate coast, onto roads, residents' yards, climbing up homes and scratching their way into homes. Most are infesting two of the three islands, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman.

"People living in the coast will have them everywhere," Tim Austin, deputy director of the Cayman Islands' Environment Department, told the AP. "They get in houses, into your AC system. Anywhere there's a gap, they'll find it. They're trying to get somewhere where they'll live happily."

Austin believes low tides and the recent "supermoon" combined to make life easier for the baby red crabs, allowing more of them to reach land.

The crabs' red hue is misleading, as the creatures climb ashore after they're born and lay low in forests and wetlands until they grow and reproduce, heading back into the water as a large black land crab seeking to deposit their eggs.

Follow us

The creatures grow from the size of about a thumbnail to nearly a foot in some cases. Fully grown crabs can scamper at up to six feet per second, have been known to claw at the tires of passing cars.

Locals colloquially call them "Hurricane Crabs" because a superstition connects their presence to a particularly bad hurricane season.

Baby red crabs, up to the size of a thumbnail, have climbed up windows and into AC units, among other places.

"There's a very strong feeling on the island that they relate to the arrival of a hurricane," District Commissioner Ernie Scott of Cayman Brac told the Cayman Compass. He added: "I've seen them here in hurricane seasons when we didn't have any hurricanes and I've seen them in a season where we've experienced hurricanes."

The rest is here:

Baby Red Crabs Invade Cayman Islands, Could Signal Tough Hurricane Season

"There was nothing from us in writing, but verbal undertakings were given" ... Richard Woolcott. Photo: Jon Reid

DEFENCE'S plans to develop the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean as a base for Australian and US spy drones and aircraft run counter to assurances Canberra has given the United Nations, one of Australia's most senior foreign policy figures has warned.

Australia promised it would not ''militarise'' the islands when persuading key nations at the world body not to oppose the transfer of the former British possession to Australian sovereignty, the former Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade secretary Richard Woolcott, said.

The recent Defence Force Posture Review suggested Defence consider upgrading the Cocos Islands airfield to support the new P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft likely to be acquired by the Royal Australian Air Force to replace its P-3C Orions.

Advertisement: Story continues below

In March, The Washington Post reported the US was looking at the islands, in the north-east quadrant of the Indian Ocean, as a base to watch over a vast sweep of Asia.

The Cocos Islands were considered an ''ideal site'' to base not only manned US surveillance planes but also the Global Hawk, an unarmed high-altitude surveillance drone, the newspaper said. Spy flights could be launched over the South China Sea, scene of growing disputes between China and other countries with overlapping claims to marine and seabed resources.

The Australian posture review said Global Hawks could already operate from the Cocos Islands airfield, though the condition of the airfield and its limited infrastructure imposed constraints.

But Mr Woolcott recalls that when he was Australian ambassador to the UN in 1984, he gave Australia's assurances that the islands would not be converted to military purposes. ''There was nothing from us in writing, but verbal undertakings were given,'' he said yesterday.

The former chief diplomat writes in the Sydney Morning Herald today of his feelings of ''guilt'' at the way two ''crumbs from the British Empire's table'' that fell to Australia during his career were now being ''misused'' in ways that damaged Australia's standing in Asia.

Read more:

Militarising Cocos Islands will be betrayal, says former ambassador

16 May 2012 Last updated at 04:37 ET

China and Japan are holding talks on maritime issues, with a group of disputed East China Sea islands top of the agenda.

The talks in China are being attended by foreign, defence and maritime officials from the two countries.

They were expected to discuss the row over the resource-rich island chain known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu.

The islands are controlled by Japan, but also claimed by China.

Both side were expected to discuss how to avoid future clashes around the islands, which lie northeast of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and southwest of Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa.

Relations between China and Japan hit a low point after Japanese coast guards arrested a fishing boat captain near the Senkaku islands in September 2010 following a collision.

"China and Japan reached consensus in December to set up a China-Japan high-level consultation mechanism on maritime affairs," said Hong Lei, spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry, in a press conference on Tuesday.

But Japan's decision to allow the World Uighur Congress (WUC) to meet in Tokyo could cast a shadow over the Hangzhou meeting, reports from Beijing suggest.

Beijing says the WUC has links to terrorist organisations that aim to separate the restive region of Xinjiang from China. WUC says it seeks to promote the right of Uighurs to use peaceful, democratic means to decide the future of Xinjiang.

The rest is here:

China, Japan discuss islands row

China and Japan are holding high-level maritime talks expected to focus on a group of uninhabited islands that are at the heart of an ongoing territorial row between the two countries.

Read more from the original source:

China, Japan hold maritime talks on islands row

Hundreds of thousands of red baby crabs are invading the Cayman Islands in a seasonal migration that residents say is unusually heavy this year.

Originally posted here:

Baby red crabs invade Cayman Islands

HuffPost's QuickRead...

Loading...

HuffPost's QuickRead...

The rest is here:

The World's 10 Best Islands, According To National Geographic (PHOTOS)

15 May 2012

The Cayman Islands government has sought to bolster business relations with Brazilian investors by taking part in the recent Brazil Investment Summit.

The government said the event presented the opportunity to hold meetings with private equity and institutional investors and provide valuable insight into how the Cayman Islands is perceived internationally, and what policy makers could do to maximize the territory's potential to act as a conduit to investment flows to Brazil.

During the visit, meetings were held with members of Brazil's private sector, key industry associations, including the Brazilian Alternative Investment Managers Association, and representatives from the Portuguese and American Chambers of Commerce.

A team from the government hosted a booth at the summit to offer information on the financial services products being offered from the islands, including in the maritime and aviation spheres.

Welcoming the success of the event, Cayman Premier and Minister for Finance, Tourism and Development, McKeeva Bush, stated: The government has given the Ministry of Finance a mandate to focus energies on emerging economies such as Brazil. Our private sector has long established strong links with Brazil. It is important that we do our part to ensure that the Cayman Islands service providers remain the service providers of choice for the facilitation of Brazilian investment flows.

The Cayman Islands is one of the top five jurisdictions in the world for investment in and out of Brazil, according to 2010 data from the International Monetary Fund. Dr Dax Basdeo of the Cayman Islands Ministry of Finance said that inward portfolio and direct investment flows amount to USD27bn annually, while outward flows amount to nearly USD40bn.

Originally posted here:

Cayman Islands Target Brazilian Investors

TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire -05/15/12)- Canadian Orebodies Inc. (TSX-V: CO) ("Canadian Orebodies" or the "Company") is pleased to announce its plans for the upcoming 2012 exploration season on the Belcher Islands, Nunavut. Beginning in June, the Company intends to evaluate a number of high priority exploration targets in the areas around Haig Inlet on the Belcher Islands. The company plans to conduct the exploration drilling this season in two phases: wide-spread exploration holes on 3 separate targets, followed by infill drilling on the areas which would be most amenable to developing an open-pit mineral resource.

"This summer's exploration program will form part of a defining year for the Company and the Haig Inlet project, as we continue toward our goal of establishing the Belcher islands as Canada's next iron ore district," said Gordon McKinnon, President and CEO of Canadian Orebodies. "We are targeting 3 very large and highly prospective areas to show the wide spread iron formations on the Belcher Islands. The goal for this year is to establish a new deposit to be brought into a 43-101 resource, all while we advance the Haig Inlet deposit through our planned technical studies."

Three Large Untested Targets to be Drilled - Goal of Establishing New Deposit

The company has identified three large untested target areas that have been selected for drilling during the 2012 exploration program. Each target was selected for having the highest potential to host near surface iron mineralization that may be amenable to open pit mining.

Target 1: Haig West Property

Exploration in the 1950s by the Belcher Mining Corporation Ltd. included a number of regional magnetic surveys which identified a continuous magnetic anomaly along the western shore of Flaherty Island. In the fall of 2011, Canadian Orebodies staked 13 claims to cover this geophysical target, which lies approximately 10km to the west of the Haig Inlet Project. The magnetic anomaly contained within this claim group extends approximately 29.4km in a north-south direction and is coincident with a single exposure of the Kipalu Iron Formation mapped in 1959. The Company plans to initiate exploration of the stratigraphy on western Flaherty Island in 2012 with a magnetic survey followed by widely-spaced drill holes.

Target 2: Kihl Bay Anticline

The second target is located to the northeast of Haig Inlet and is comprised of relatively closely spaced anticlines and synclines plunging north. The Company believes the anticlines may elevate the Kipalu Iron Formation stratigraphy proximal to surface, as these folds are well defined by the Aster satellite imagery work completed by Wickert in 2007. Although the iron formation is not exposed in this area, Orebodies is excited about the possibility for significant additional iron mineralization near surface.

Target 3: Haig North Extension

The third target for further exploration is the northward extension of the Kipalu Iron Formation, which runs north for an additional 17km from the northern most 2011 drill holes. Only two areas of iron formation outcrop have been examined along this trend. One occurs near the extreme north end of the property and another near the northwestern most 2011 drill holes. Exposures in both areas are comprised of Fe-rich argillite and dip towards the east. The Company plans to drill widely-spaced holes along this 17km trend.

View post:

Canadian Orebodies Announces 2012 Exploration Program on the Belcher Islands