Nassau, Bahamas - The Ministry of National Security has confirmed that on Saturday, 6 February 2010, 78 Haitian migrants were intercepted in waters near the Exuma chain when the sloop in which they were sailing was sighted by the Royal Bahamas Defence Force on a routine patrol.

Defence Force vessel HMBS P-45 spotted the 30-foot Haitian sailing sloop approximately 13 nautical miles southwest of Barreterre, Exuma.  The Haitian migrants, 64 males and 14 females, were transferred from their unseaworthy vessel and taken aboard Defence Force craft P-45 and P-49.   

The migrants, all of whom appeared to be in fair health, have been transferred to HMBS Bahamas. The United States Coast Guard is assisting the Royal Bahamas Defence Force in returning the migrants to Haiti... 

Freeport, Grand Bahama Island - The Bahamas International Maritime Conference and Trade Show (BIMCATS) 2010 results from collaboration of the Ministry of The Environment and Bahamas Maritime Authority with public and private sector partners. 

The 2010 Conference will be held at Our Lucaya Beach and Golf Resort from February 9th to the 12th.

Under the theme ‘The Maritime Sector and the Environment’ ...

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – (AP) More than five dozen Haitian migrants detained as they sailed north through the Bahamas will be returned directly to the earthquake-ravaged country, the Bahamian prime minister said Monday.

Two Royal Bahamas Defense Force vessels intercepted a boat carrying the 62 Haitian on Saturday, Prime Minister Huber Ingraham said.

While the Bahamas has made it easier for Haitian immigrants already in the country to stay since the earthquake, Ingraham said the government will not change its policy toward undocumented migrants found at sea.

"We will do all we can to assist Haiti except we cannot absorb Haiti's population in the Bahamas," Ingraham told The Associated Press...

Nassau, The Bahamas - Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham said on Thursday, February 5, that foreign direct investments in The Bahamas are showing positive signs.

He also said that several of the tourism related developments, which stalled because of the global recession and international financial crisis are preparing to move forward this year.

“It is expected that as the US economy begins to grow there will be improvement in the second-home market. Also, investments in other segments of our economy are showing positive signs,” the Prime Minister said in his New Year’s Address to the Nation...

The Bahamas has a long history of religion.  It’s founding church, The Church of England, better known as the Anglican Church, and its multiple Christian denominations gives this nation reason to boast of its Christian heritage, and Christian practices has maintained the way of life that the world envied.  Vacationers world-wide seek these known to be peaceful shores, for a paradise experience including fun, safety, and cleanliness.

Proud Bahamians boasted for many years of the status of a “Christian Nation.”

Prime Minister, The Honourable Hubert A. Ingraham, speaks volumes in the spirit, and throughout our country; that we give God the authority to help us bring order, peace, and prosperity back to this nation.”   The National Day of Prayer and Fasting is slated for Wednesday February, 10, 2010, from 6:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m...  

NASSAU, The Bahamas  – The Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) honored The Islands of The Bahamas with two of the coveted Adrian Awards for web marketing excellence for their winning entries in the 53rd annual Adrian Awards Competition. The Bahamas accepted these awards at last night’s 20th annual black-tie awards gala held at the Marriott Marquis in New York, NY. The HSMAI Adrian Awards Competition is the largest and most prestigious travel marketing competition globally. There were nearly 1,100 entries from around the world judged by top executives from all sectors of the industry.

The Bahamas were rewarded with the competition’s highest honor, a Platinum Adrian Award, given to only 20 entries, for the innovative web marketing campaign, “Bahama Fridays.” A video parody of a local news segment entitled “Bahama Fridays” was produced and brought the fun of the islands into the homes and offices of U.S. consumers. With the video as inspiration, a consumer ambush event was created in New York using 100 “commuters” in bikinis...

You can help protect the world’s most beautiful and diverse habitats when you Adopt a Coral Reef today.

With its many uninhabited islands and the clearest water in the world, The Bahamas harbors key populations of the Caribbean’s most iconic marine species, from Nassau grouper to bottle-nosed dolphins, bonefish to sea turtles. Tourists, drawn by the climate and the natural beauty of the Caribbean, account for nearly half of the region’s entire income and coral reefs provide more than $4 billion a year from fisheries, scuba-diving, tourism and shoreline protection...

SHANGHAI—China heralded a major bust of computer hackers to underscore its pledge to help enhance global online security, with state media saying officials had shut what they called the country's largest distributor of tools used in malicious Internet attacks.

Three people were arrested on suspicion of making hacking tools available online, the state-run Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Their business, known as Black Hawk Safety Net, operated through the now-shuttered Web site 3800cc.com and generated around $1 million in income from its over 12,000 subscribers, the report said.

(Associated Press) Despite four decades of slogging through Everglades marshes and mangroves, wildlife ecologist Frank Mazzotti had never experienced anything like the aftermath of frigid January. The confirmed casualty count so far:

• At least 70 dead crocodiles.

• More than 60 manatee carcasses.

• A bright-side observance of multiple frozen-stiff Burmese pythons, the scourge of the Everglades.

And also, perhaps the biggest fish kill in modern Florida history...

Eleuthera, The Bahamas - Bahamian artisans are “on the cusp of a revolution in the handicraft industry,” Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Lawrence S Larry Cartwright declare.

“More people are being trained, organized and prepared to be symbols of our creativity and genius,” he said.

Mr Cartwright was speaking during graduation ceremony for 150 Eleutherans from Princess Cay to Harbour Island who took the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Corporation’s courses in shell, coconut, straw and sisal craft, last Friday.

Nassau, Bahamas - Gordon Major, Acting Director in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, admonished persons employed in the Government’s Temporary Job Program to be agents of change.

“You will be our public face in the next six months,” said Mr Major. “Make sure that each encounter you have is positive no matter how much you may be provoked to do otherwise. I know it is not always easy but exert your best effort.”

NASSAU, The Bahamas -- The Bahamas maintained its share of the tourist market, bringing in a record 3.5 million cruise visitors and increasing airlift by almost 400,000 seats in 2009, Prime Minister the Rt. Hon. Hubert A. Ingraham said on Thursday, February 4, 2010.

The Prime Minister said in his New Year’s Address to the Nation that the Government is focused on making the islands of The Bahamas more accessible, affordable and convenient.

“We have been able to maintain our market share, maintain our room rates and grow certain segments of our business,” Prime Minister Ingraham said...

Nassau, Bahamas - United States and Bahamian government officials together with principals, teachers, students, and family members attended the U.S. Embassy’s fourth annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., essay competition awards ceremony on Friday, February 5.  The ceremony was held at the British Colonial Hilton Hotel.  A total of 65 essays were received from fourteen public and private schools in New Providence and the Family Islands.

Students were asked to use a quote from Dr. King about personal integrity and responsibility to answer one of the following questions: “How can you or how have you demonstrated personal integrity and responsibility to improve conditions in your community?” or “Choose an important figure in your life who best exemplifies Dr. King’s quote and explain how that individual has demonstrated personal integrity and responsibility...”

Fort Lauderdale, FL - In its ongoing efforts to promote The Islands of The Bahamas as the premiere destination for general aviation/private pilots, The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation will be the chief sponsor of a Bahamas Day event at a Fixed Based Operation (FBO) in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, February 20, 2010.

The First Annual Bahamas Day, is being hosted by Banyan Air Service, located at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport.  Banyan was named earlier this year as one of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism’s Aviation Division (BMOTA’s) Bahamas Preferred Gateways. Going forward, the Bahamas Day will be hosted by a different Bahamas Preferred Gateway each year...

The Bahamas Department of Marine Resources wishes to advise the general- public that the waters surrounding High Cay, off the coast of Central Andros will be designated as a "Protected Area" during the period 1 ^st January, 2010 to 28^th February, 2010. During this period all forms of fishing will be prohibited in the area around High cay as specified below.

The designated "Protected Area" is bounded in the North by latitude 24 ° 40'N, in the South by 24 ° 37.8'N, in the East by longitude 77 ° 40.8W, and in the West by longitude 77 ° 44'W, and encompassing an area of approximately seven (7) square miles...

Nassau, Bahamas - Public Works and Transport Minister the Hon Neko C Grant urged the 150 employees hired under the Ministry’s Temporary Job Employment Program to represent the Ministry in a “professional” manner.

“All of you will be provided an identification card that will clearly indicate that you are a part of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s Temporary Employment Program,” Mr Grant said.

“I wish to remind you that when you go out into the communities to participate in the various projects you represent the Ministry, and as such it is expected that you will conduct yourself in a professional manner and provide an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay...