​Last month at a United Nations donor conference, the International community pledged $1.3 billion to rebuild the hurricane-ravaged Caribbean. But how did they know how much the region, which was hit with back-to-back Category 5 hurricanes in September, needs to recover? In part thanks to a new app and software bundle from Microsoft, developed in collaboration with U N relief workers.
 
The prosaically named Building Damage Assessment App turned out to play a vital role in assessing the devastation on Barbuda and Dominica, two islands that faced the full force of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, respectively.
 

Former footballer George Weah is set to become Liberia's president at the second attempt.
 
With most ballots from Tuesday's run-off vote counted, Mr Weah is well ahead of opponent Joseph Boakai.
 
He will succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female president, in Liberia's first democratic handover in decades.
 
Mrs Sirleaf defeated Mr Weah in the presidential election run-off in 2005, after the end of a brutal civil war.
 
As news of Mr Weah's victory emerged on Thursday, his supporters began celebrating in the capital Monrovia.

ECCO Director in Dominica Darryl Bob has clarified his position with the Eastern Caribbean Collective Organization for Music Rights Inc, in the aftermath of a shake-up following its recent board of directors meeting.
 
ECCO recently put out a release stating that Darryl Bob is continuing to serve on the organization’s new board of directors. Bob says his term is currently ongoing, as he was elected in 2016 to serve for two years.

​ECCO Director in Dominica Darryl Bob spoke to q95news in an exclusive interview on Thursday. 

​Former Dominica Ambassador to the United Nations Crispin Gregoire, spoke to q95news on 28th December 2017

​President of the Dominica Freedom Party Johnson Boston is calling on Dominicans to improve their attitude toward their fellow Dominicans, irrespective of their politicalor religious beliefs.
 
Boston emphasized that Dominicans must begin to accept that everyone is legally entitled to support any political party of their choice, and that everyone will not agree to support any one political party.

President of the Dominica Freedom Party Johnson Boston

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is now touting plans for construction of various government buildings, a police station and a community center on Government acquired lands in Roseau and Portsmouth.
 
Mr Skerrit stated at a press conference last Tuesday, that homes and business places will be built in the Pound area for members of the public, and for aspiring business owners. He noted that government buildings will be built on the Picard site in Portsmouth, to ensure that government services are available more efficiently to the public.
 
He added, “We are also building a police station at that site, as was the original intention, because the current police station in Portsmouth has outlived its functional capacities, so we will be building a new police station there, at the site, and of course several homes for the residents of Portsmouth and surrounding communities”.

The government of Dominica says the relocation of Coulibistrie residents will be similar to the plan established for the Petite Savanne community.
 
Coulibistrie was one of the many villages severely impacted due to the passage of hurricane Maria. Prime Minister Skerrit says, some residents in the village of Colihaut will also have to be relocated.

​PM Roosevelt Skerrit.

​Financial services giant Sagicor, which last year moved its holding company to Bermuda, after more than 170 years in Barbados, is preparing to establish a firmer footing in that British Overseas Territory, according to a recent International Monetary Fund (IMF) report.
 
The draft report on an October 9-13 mission in Barbados, at the invitation of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), says as a next step to the relocation of the holding company, Sagicor plans to establish a reinsurer in Bermuda, to be supervised by regulators there 

​Miss Dominica Jade Romain is planning to embark on a mental health fair in the new year.
 
She says the mental health fair is a response to hurricane Maria.
 
Meantime, Romain has reached out to the less fortunate during the Christmas season.

​Miss Dominica Jade Romain

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit insists there is no evidence to prove that his government has been violating Dominica's Procurement Laws. His comments come following criticisms of government's procurement practices in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

PM Roosevelt Skerrit