Nassau, The Bahamas – The Sheraton Nassau Beach Resort, located in Nassau, has announced the appointments of Glenn Sampert as general manager and Steven White as hotel manager.

With more than 40 years of collective experience in various segments of the hospitality industry, Sampert and White will work together to reposition the resort as part of the anticipated new Baha Mar development.

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Oct. 27/11 (BBC) — They said banks holding Greek debt accepted a 50% loss, the eurozone bailout fund will be boosted and banks will have to raise more capital.

Shares on European markets rose sharply on news of the deal.

The agreement is aimed at preventing the crisis spreading to larger eurozone economies like Italy, but the leaders said work still needed to be done.

After marathon talks in Brussels, they agreed a mechanism to boost the eurozone’s main bailout fund to about 1tn euros (£880bn; $1.4tn).

Banks must also raise more capital to protect them against losses resulting from any future government defaults.

BBC business editor Robert Peston says it is perfectly clear that EU leaders have bought some time, and for a few weeks and maybe longer the markets will give them the benefit of the doubt.

The framework for the new fund is to be put in place in November.

Meanwhile EU leaders welcomed Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s pledge to balance his country’s budgets and implement reforms to bring down its 1.9tn-euro debt.

Correspondents say Mr Berlusconi had been under huge pressure to prove he was serious about austerity measures.

This is an excerpt from BBC NEWS Europe as it appeared on October 27, 2011. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Regional Economic Outlook has proven to be an “invaluable tool” for helping governments construct microeconomic frameworks, which form the basis of their fiscal plans, says Ehurd Cunningham (pictured), acting financial secretary in the Ministry of Finance.

On Tuesday, representatives from the IMF presented one of their flagship publications, the Regional Economic Outlook, to a Bahamian audience. The presentation took the form of a panel discussion.

It comes at a time when the world economy is in the midst of a turbulent period with growth and confidence being negatively affected by the sovereign debt crisis in the European Union and high unemployment in some developed and developing countries.

“Nevertheless, governments have to operate in this environment and put in place policies that will lead to growth over the short and medium term,” says Cunningham. “One of the pre-requisites for survival in such an environment is that a government has to rely on information and data to help construct policy positions and navigate the course.”

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Earlier predictions that The Bahamas economy was set to grow by two per cent this year and 2.5 per cent in 2012 are “knife-edge,”?according to an International Monetary Fund (IMF) official who cautioned that any shock could shift the balance to “negative territory.”

This is not only the case for The Bahamas, but for the rest of the world, according to Miguel Savastano (left), deputy director of the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department. His comments came at Regional Economic Outlook panel discussion, the first of its kind in The Bahamas, hosted by the IMF and the Ministry of Finance.

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(Photo) Sir Arthur Foulkes, Governor General, right, poses for an official photo with Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, during a courtesy call at Government House October 21, 2011. (BIS Photo/Derek Smith)

NASSAU, The Bahamas – Ties between The Commonwealth of The Bahamas and the People’s Republic of China were further strengthened last week during the visit of Yang Jiechi, Minister of Foreign Affairs, October 20-21, 2011.

Yang paid courtesy calls on Sir Arthur Foulkes, Governor General at Government House, and the Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham. Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of National Security Tommy Turnquest hosted a welcome luncheon at the Balmoral Club.

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Westchester NY, Oct. 22 (lohud.com) – In less than a month, JetBlue will begin direct flights from Westchester County Airport to Nassau in the Bahamas, the airline’s first international flights from Westchester.

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This is an excerpt from lohud.com as it appeared on October 24, 2011. For updates or to read the current version of this post in its entirety, please click here.

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Gulfstream International Airlines is set to launch a new, daily flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, beginning November 8. The 35 minute flight will depart at 11:55am arriving in Freeport at 12:30pm. The return trip leaves at 12:50pm.

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Colin E Callender, QC, managing partner of The Bahamas’ oldest law firm, Callenders & Co, was elected a director of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL) at the annual meeting in New York recently, becoming one of only five attorneys in the world outside the United States to hold a current directorship.

Callender, whose law career has spanned five decades, called the appointment “one of the highest honours of my career and a reflection of the respect with which the legal profession of The Bahamas is held at the global level.”

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Hotels in The Bahamas could make significant savings with new energy efficiency measures, funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

The IDB has approved a $2-million grant to fund energy efficiency projects in The Bahamas and other countries throughout the Caribbean, including Barbados, Jamaica and Haiti.

The four-year scheme will offer hotels energy audits, focusing in particular on areas such as air conditioning, lighting and water use. The IDB estimates that many small and medium-sized hotels in the region could cut water consumption by as much as 50 per cent and overall energy use by up to 50 per cent.

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The newly privatized Bahamas Telecommunications Company (BTC) plans to open around 50 retail stores by the end of March 2012, giving customers easier access to products, calling plans and other services, according to BTC chief executive officer Geoff Houston.

Shops will be spread throughout The Bahamas, with the flagship store located at Marathon Mall on New Providence, which is expected to be open before the end of the year.

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