iNews Briefs
Two Caymanians become champions at Blue Mountain
At the 2014 Blue Mountain Caribbean Junior Tennis Championships in Jamaica the Cayman Islands produced two champions.
Bobby Lomax took first in the boys 12-and-under class by beating Jamaica’s Damani Cain 6-2, 0-6, 10-8 in the final.
Lauren Fullerton took first in the girls 12-and-under division. She beat Guyana’s Kalyca Fraser 6-1, 2-6, 10-5 in the final.
Veteran realtor elects to be tried in Cayman Islands Grand Court for theft
Antonio Paolini (74) former broker and owner of Cayman Real Estate Company has had his case moved to the Cayman Islands Grand Court from the Magistrates Court at his own request.
Paolini is accused of stealing $51,600 from a client on Feb. 25th 2013.
Magistrate Valdis Foldats extended Paolin’s bail until Sept. 5th.
New Quinn TV ad hits Rauner on jobs outsourcing, Cayman tax shelters
From Illinois Observer
(Chicago) – Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign today issued a new TV ad that attacks Bruce Rauner for outsourcing American jobs overseas and new Cayman Islands investments.
The new 30-second ad, which hit airwaves Wednesday morning, notes that, “Rauner didn’t just outsource jobs – he started an outsourcing business to help other companies outsource thousands of jobs to India, China and the Philippines.”
This is a reference to the Zenta conglomerate, started by Rauner in 2005, as H-Cube, which outsourced “thousands of white-collar jobs”, according to Quinn’s campaign.
In addition, the ad notes Rauner has set up 12 “shell companies” in the Cayman Islands, known a tax haven for companies seeking to avoid U.S. and Illinois taxes.
Updated: Rauner’s campaign blasted the new Quinn ad.
“Pat Quinn has clearly reached all out desperation mode with his new false and misleading attack,” said Rauner Spokesman Mike Schrimpf. “Only a failed governor who wants to cover up his own record of tax hikes and job losses would make outrageous claims like these.”
Rauner had Cayman investments
From WJPF
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — A newspaper reports that Republican Bruce Rauner’s former private equity firm set up investment funds in the Cayman Islands — including ones in which he has a personal financial interest.
The disclosure by the Chicago Sun-Times stirred up a new round of calls from Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn’s campaign for his Republican rival to fully disclose his financial holdings.
Rauner was in charge of the Chicago-based firm GTCR when it set up a dozen funds from 2009 to 2011 in the Caribbean nation known as a tax haven. The Sun-Times reports that three of those are funds in which Rauner has a personal interest, which reported earlier this month.
Rauner spokesman Mike Schrimpf says the investments are legal “flow-through” funds and a “common” device in investment strategy.
For more: http://www.wjpf.com/2014/08/20/report-rauner-had-cayman-investments/
Haitians mark revolution birth
By Tequila Minsky From Caribbean Life
Last Sunday, amidst an array of picnickers squeezing out the last weeks of summer family fun, Haitians, Haitian-Americans, folklorists, and other Haitian culture enthusiasts gathered close to the banks of the Prospect Park’s six-acre lake near the Parkside park entrance. As they have for years at this spot, beginning in the afternoon, the community commemorated the ceremony among slaves that sparked the Haitian revolution.
Aug. 14 marked the 223rd anniversary of the Congress of Bwa Kayiman, where enslaved people in the French colony Saint-Domingue, now known as Haiti, planned a general insurrection in 1791.
Against apparent odds, they succeeded and went on to establish Haiti, the world’s first enduring Black republic.
For more: http://www.caribbeanlifenews.com/stories/2014/8/2014-08-19-tm-haiti-cl_2014_8.html
40 Cuban migrants arrive in Cayman Brac
Last Tuesday (19) about 40 Cuban migrants were spotted at the east end of Cayman Brac at approx. 5pm.
They docked at Scott’s Dock on the northwest of the island and stayed overnight before departing in the morning.
Some of the Cubans had originally decided to stay in the Brac but at the last minute changed their minds and rejoined the others in the boat.
Government schools results good but Cayman Education Minister says privatizing being considered
Despite the preliminary results for this year’s external exams in the Cayman Islands government schools indicating Year 12 students surpassing last year’s record breaking Level 2 pass rate, Education Minister Tara Rivers said government were still considering privatising government schools.
Chief Education Officer Shirley Wahler at the Annual Education Professionals’ Welcome on Wednesday (20) said Year 11 pass rates were also better than last year’s and there was also a dramatic improvement in literacy and numeracy in primary schools.
Rivers, also speaking at the Welcome event, said she and Winston Connolly, the ministry counselor, were elected on the principle of public-private partnerships and were continuing to explore the possibility of adopting it in regards to public schools. She also announced baseline inspections would be introduced in every government school over the course of the next year.
Dubai’s Nakheel to pay $2.1 billion in debt early
From Caribbean Business
(AP) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai’s developer Nakheel behind the famed man-made palm-shaped islands said Wednesday it is repaying 7.9 billion dirhams, or roughly $2.15 billion this month — nearly four years before the last installment is due.
The indebted state developer was scheduled to repay the credit over three installments between September 2015 and March 2018. Nakheel said in a statement that it made early repayments of 2.35 billion dirhams ($640 million) in February. The remaining 5.54 billion dirhams ($1.51 billion) is being paid and cleared this month, it said.
Nakheel will pay the $1.51 billion to 31 banks, of which almost $940 million will go to UAE banks and $570 million to overseas banks. The company said it will also pay interest of around $35 million covering the six months from end of February to end of August.
The company’s credit-fueled building spree was at the heart of Dubai’s financial crisis in 2009 following a property market crash the year before. The state developer was part of Dubai World, but separated during financial restructuring.
It received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Dubai government, which itself was lent billions of dollars from the Abu Dhabi-based federal government. Nakheel was almost faced with default and had to suspend its projects on its large man-made islands.
Nakheel said earlier this year that strong real estate growth and improved economic conditions in Dubai boosted its finances and allowed it to make early debt repayments.
It has also promised to repay trade creditors $1.23 billion in Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, that mature in 2016.
For more: http://www.caribbeanbusinesspr.com/news/dubais-nakheel-to-pay-$2.1-billion-in-debt-early-99838.html
Cayman teachers will be getting a review of pay says minister
At the Cayman Islands Annual Education Professionals’ Welcome on Wednesday (20) Education Minister Tara Rivers said Deputy Governor Franz Manderson had agreed to a review on teachers pay.
Rivers told the teachers present they played a “special role” in the community and deserved to be properly compensated.
Man receives one day in jail for cellphone incident in Cayman court
For consistently refusing to obey an order to turn his cellphone off in Cayman Islands Summary Court, landed a man in jail last Tuesday (19).
Randy Dale Connor (24) after a series of incidents involving his cellphone that even rang in the court and consistently being told to turn it off, he even refused an order from the Magistrate Valdis Foldats to stop when he was leaving the court still talking on his cellphone.
An order for his arrest was issued. Upon returning to the court in the afternoon Connor apologized and was told he could find himself with a 30 day jail sentence. He was extremely lucky the magistrate was lenient.
CONCACAF Girls U-15: Awards
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands – The Technical Study Group for the inaugural CONCACAF Girls’ Under-15 Championship named its award winners following the final between Canada and Haiti on Sunday at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex.
Here’s a list of the winners:
GOLDEN BALL
Sarah Stratigakis (Canada)
GOLDEN BOOT
Chelsea Green (Cayman Islands) & Nerilia Mondesir (Haiti), 6 goal each
GOLDEN GLOVE
Lysianne Proulx (Canada)
FAIR PLAY
Honduras
Cayman Islands finance company sues employee for leaking information
Citco Trustees (Cayman) Limited, through its attorneys Samson and McGrath, filed a suit on August 1st against employee Reynaldo Beluso for posting confidential information about a client in December 2013 and again in July 2014.
Beluso is employed by Citco as a trust and corporate officer.
Citco states in the suit it has suffered loss and damage.
The lawsuit does not name the client or give details about what was posted or where it was published and has asked the court to keep the file closed.
North American National Park #31: Wood Buffalo, Alberta/Northwest Territories
From Everything Everywhere
In addition to being a national park, Wood Buffalo is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At 44,801km2 it is the largest national park by area in North America and one of the largest in the world.
Getting to Wood Buffalo isn’t easy, but it isn’t terribly complicated either. The trick is getting to the park entrance which is located in the far, northeastern corner of the park in Fort Smith, NWT. To get there from the nearest international airport in Edmonton requires a day and a half of travel by car. There are flights to Fort Smith, but given the size of the community, the flights are expensive and not regular.
There are a few roads going into the park, but for the most part the park is wilderness area and difficult to reach. The best way to see the park would be to take an aerial tour. From the air you can see the vast expanse of the boreal forest and the countless ponds and lakes which dot the landscape. You also might be lucky and see some of the rare whooping cranes which nest in the park.
The namesake of the park, the wood buffalo (bison), can be found without too much difficulty. There is a large heard of them which can be seen regularly visiting a salt pan and you can often see them on the side of the road grazing.
Wood Buffalo is far out of the way, but is worth visiting. It is a wilderness on a scale that you may never experience in your life.
IMAGE: North American National Park #31: Wood Buffalo, Alberta/Northwest Territories
For more on this story go to: http://everything-everywhere.com/2014/08/14/north-american-national-park-31-wood-buffalo-albertanorthwest-territories/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EverythingEverywhere+%28Everything+Everywhere%29
