The Obama administration says it is near an agreement with other nations to cancel Haiti's $447 million debt to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

US Treasury Department officials expect a deal to be struck this weekend to cancel Haiti's debt to the bank.

The US Senate unanimously approved a resolution last week calling for easing Haiti's debt burden to help with reconstruction efforts in the wake of the devastating 12 January earthquake.

The IDB estimates that Haiti's reconstruction cold cost up to $14 billion.

World Bank approves Haiti funds

	World Bank funds will go towards rebuilding infrastructure

The World Bank on Thursday approved a $65 million grant for Haiti to rebuild the country's infrastructure and help restore the government, following the 12 January earthquake.

The funds are part of a $100 million grant announced a day after the disaster.

The announcement of the Infrastructure and Institutions Emergency Recovery project follows a preparatory meeting in the Dominican Republic this week, ahead of a donors' conference in New York later this month.

EU focuses on discrimination, immigration

The treatment of gays in the Caribbean could prove a stumbling block when negotiations for a successor to the Cotonou Trade and Development Agreement continue in Brussels on Friday with the European Union.

According to the AFP news agency, one leading EU diplomat, Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, wants to include the principle of non-discrimination against gays as part of any deal with the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) bloc.

Homosexuality is still regarded as a crime in many ACP states.

The news agency quotes one source close to the EU commission as saying that if ACP nations refuse any explicit reference to gay rights, the EU could include it in a separate declaration.

EU negotiators say they also want the ACP countries to tackle the issue of returning illegal immigrants to their homeland as part of a revised agreement.

Jamaica cement row

A major row has broken out in Jamaican between the island's largest cement manufacturer, the Trinidad owned Caribbean Cement Company Limited and hardware supplier and importer, Tank Weld.

The dispute erupted after the government granted permission for Tank Weld to import and distribute cement.

The issue has been referred to the country's Anti Dumping and Subsidies Commission as well as the Fair Trading Commission.

Venezuela to stay in Curacao refinery

Officials in Curacao have welcomed an announcement from Venezuela's energy minister, who said the government in Caracas is not planning to give up operational control of an oil refinery in the Dutch territory.

Rafael Ramirez says Venezuela hasn't abandoned its commitment to its lease of the Curacao Isla refinery.

That's despite earlier pronouncements from President Chavez who suggested his government might reconsider its involvement in the refinery.

Venezuela's state owned petrol company, PDVSA, says it currently loses $1 million per day from the closure of the Isla Refinery, which was forced to shut down operations at the start of this month because of a power failure.

PDVSA plans to resume oprerations at Isla in April.

Ladies in White face protest

In Cuba, the wives and mothers of 50 government critics faced opposition from pro government protesters on Thursday, even as they staged their own demonstration demanding their release.

The women, who call themselves the Ladies in White, were marking the seventh year of the arrest of 75 opponents of the Castro regime.

On Wednesday police in Havana broke up a similar demonstration by the Ladies in White - a move that prompted a call from Amnesty International for the Cuban government to release political prisons and allow nationals to exercise their freedom of expression.