iNews Briefs
Jamaica seeks help from Cuba in warding off Ebola
From Caribbean National Weekly
Jamaica’s Minister of Health, Dr Fenton Ferguson will be leading a delegation to Cuba to seek support in light of the threat of Ebola. Ferguson made the announcement on the weekend at the opening of a health center in the eastern parish of St. Thomas.
“I have met with the Cuban Ambassador (to Jamaica) and a broad delegation, including the private sector will be visiting Cuba to seek support from the government. AS we are aware, Cuba sent a mission to West Africa in response to the Ebola outbreak in that region and we would like some support from their medical doctors to help with out national response,” he said.
Cuba is globally regarded as one of the foremost countries in health care. The Health Minister also called for unity in the coordinated response to Eloba.
“While we are going through the chikungunya outbreak, we know that the mortality rate for this disease is less than one per cent, but Ebola is no joke. The Ebola virus is a severe, often fatal illness with a death rate of up to 90 per cent. Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has elevated the country’s response to a National Health Response.
Annual Culinary Awards of Excellence Competition in Cayman Islands
October 21-23, 2014 at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman is the date and place for the Cayman Culinary Society’s (CCS) annual Salon Culinare.
The competition will showcase talent in the local culinary industry and will end with a grand celebration – the Out of the Kitchen Gala Dinner. The dinner celebrates the skills of award winning chefs from all over the island, who will come out of the kitchen, and to each table to cook, treating each guest to a unique experience.
On October 22 attendees will enjoy an industry Trade Show open to the public at no charge. There will also be a bartending and ice carving competition, as well as the Chef of the Year cook off.
October 23rd will feature Out of the Kitchen’s Annual Cayman Culinary Society Awards Gala. The Gala includes tableside cooking; featuring exquisite dishes for “foodies” and an awards ceremony, tickets are available for purchase from the Ritz Carlton for $145 per person.
To purchase tickets for Out of the Kitchen’s Annual Cayman Culinary Society Awards Gala, contact the Ritz Carlton at (345) 943-9000.
Woman sent to jail for failing to mow lawn
By Chris Morran From Consumerist
If you’ve ever looked a lawn that needed trimming and said to yourself, “I’ll get around to it. What are they gonna do, arrest me?” this story of a woman in Tennessee might have you dusting off the mower and hedge clippers.
WVLT-TV in Knoxville reports on a local woman who was told she had to spend a five-day term behind bars for failing to keep up with her yard work.
She initially received a citation from the city during the summer because her property required some grooming.
“With my husband going to school and working full time, me with my job, with one vehicle, we were trying our best,” she explains. “[The bushes and trees] were overgrown. But that’s certainly not a criminal offense.”
But following a second citation and a recent court hearing, the mother of two was looking at five days in the clink.
The woman says she was steamrolled by the process; that she was never told of her legal rights or that she could have a lawyer represent her at court.
“It’s not right,” she claims. “Why would you put me in jail with child molesters, and people who’ve done real crimes, because I haven’t maintained my yard.”
Earlier this week, the judge acknowledged that this was not a criminal case and reduced the sentence to only six hours of jail time. She offered to do five days of community service instead, but the judge insisted on some time behind bars.
She served her time on Tuesday evening, but the judge could give her additional jail time if he’s not happy with her lawn-maintenance efforts when they review her progress at a November check-in hearing.
For comparison’s sake, semi-celebrity Nicole Richie only spent 82 minutes in jail for an incident in which she drove the wrong way on a highway while admittedly being under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and Vicodin.
For more: http://consumerist.com/2014/10/17/woman-sent-to-jail-for-failing-to-mow-lawn/
Seion Brown victim of fatal motorcycle accident in Cayman Islands
From What’s Up Caribbean
A 23 year old man died this week in Cayman Islands,in what police say was a a one
vehicle crash on Shamrock Road in the Savannah area.
Brown, became the third man under age 30 to die this year on Grand Cayman while operating a motorcycle.
Brown was pronounced dead at the Cayman Islands Hospital Thursday [16] morning.
According to police report, “The rider, travelling west on Shamrock Road, lost control of the motorcycle in a left-hand bend … fell and collided with a sign post”
The motorcycle ended up in the eastbound lanes of Shamrock Road. It was not believed that any other vehicles were involved in the wreck. Mr. Brown was the only person on the motorcycle, police said.
He was pronounced dead at the Cayman Islands Hospital Thursday morning following the accident
See also iNews Cayman story ” Fatal Collision Savannah” published Oct 16 2014 at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/serious-motor-vehilcle-accident-in-savannah-motorist-to-avoid-area/
Cuba seeks six taekwondo titles in Central American and Caribbean Games
HAVANA, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) — The Cuban taekwondo team seeks to obtain at least six titles at the 22th Central American and Caribbean Games to be held in Mexico’s eastern city of Veracruz from Nov. 14 to 30.
According to Hector Hernandez, Cuba’s national taekwondo representative, the island’s squad consisted of 16 athletes, including two world champions.
The women’s team includes Glennis Hernandez, world champion in Puebla 2013 in the 73-kg category, as well as Yania Aguirre (46 kg) and Yamichel Nunez (53 kg), both bronze-medal winners in the world championships.
The Cuban women’s taekwondo team, led by coaches Ramon Arias and Arlen Gonzalez, aims to match the achievements of Cartagena 2006, when the ladies won three gold medals, three silver and one bronze.
In the men’s taekwondo team, Rafael Alba is one of Cuba’s hopefuls to win in the 87-kg category.
The Cuban men’s team, lead by Roberto Cardenas and Lazaro Alfonso, also includes Rafael Solis (54 kg), Osvaldo Llorens (58 kg), Miguel Angel Aguiar (63 kg), Fermin Quesada (68 kg) and Erlandys Mustelier (80 kg).
The 2014 Veracruz Central American and Caribbean Games will see a total of 5,365 athletes from 32 countries and regions to compete in 36 sports, including new ones such as basque pelota, golf and open water swimming.
A total of 449 titles are on offer, including 222 for men, 205 for women and 22 mixed.
In the past Central American and Caribbean Games, Cuba topped the overall medals table with 139 gold, 86 silver and 60 bronze, followed by Mexico with 107-82-87.
Two HSBC directors said quitting over tougher bank accountability rules
From The Compliance Exchange on October 8, 2014
Two directors of HSBC’s operations in the UK have quit in protest ahead of tough new rules that could result in jail terms for reckless bankers.
Alan Thomson, who is on the board of the international bank’s UK subsidiary, is planning to leave at the end of this month – and John Trueman, the deputy chairman, is preparing to resign but has not yet formally done so.
The moves come as proposals for rules to make senior bankers more accountable were unveiled by the regulators.
The Prudential Regulation Authority is consulting on proposals until the end of this month under which senior staff could face criminal liability if their bank fails and they are subsequently found guilty of reckless misconduct.
Under the regime, which regulators want to be in force by January next year, the onus would be on bankers to prove they behaved appropriately.
For more: http://compliancex.com/two-hsbc-directors-said-quitting-over-tougher-bank-accountability-rules/
Hedge fund boards accountability https://www.wiwi.hu-berlin.de/professuren/bwl/cofi/conferences/mutual-and-hedge-fund-conference-2014/papers/clifford-ellis-gerken2014.pdf
Tenfu (06868.HK) announces rapidly expanding tea drinks brand “Funnew Spot” via Franchise Mode
Hong Kong, Oct 20, 2014–(ACN Newswire)–Hong Kong, Oct 20, 2014 – (ACN Newswire) – Tenfu (Cayman) Holdings Co., Ltd. (“Tenfu”/ “the Group”) (Stock Code: 06868.HK) today announces since the completion of the acquisition of Xiamen Tianqia Catering Management Co., Limited in October 2013, Tenfu has been focusing on the operation tea drinks brand “Funnew Spot”. Leveraging on its unique positioning in the tea drinks market, Tenfu’s tea drinks business has been grown rapidly in nearly one year time.
“Funnew Spot” expands its business nationwide via franchise mode and currently operates over 100 chain stores in more than 50 cities in China, including Xiamen, Quanzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, etc.
The brand concept of “Funnew Spot” is natural and healthy. It is an extension of Tenfu’s current business which further expands Tenfu’s value chain in the tea industry.
In the meantime, Tenfu acquired Xiamen Tianyu Commerce and Trading Co., Limited, an online retailer operating on many online platforms amongst which Tmall and Taobao are the main ones. The acquisition benefits the company in enhancing brand awareness and broadening customer base.
About Tenfu (Cayman) Holdings Co., Ltd. (Stock Code: 06868.HK)
Tenfu is a leading traditional Chinese tea-product enterprise in the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) engaged in the sale and marketing of a comprehensive range of tea products and the development of product concepts, tastes and packaging designs. Our key products are tea leaves, tea snacks and tea ware. The Group offers products under brands such as Tenfu, Tenfu Ten Xin, Danfeng, Uncle Lee, Funnew Spot etc. which are sold through a nationwide network of self-owned and third-party owned retail outlets and retail points. The Group has 1,343 retail outlets and retail points across 30 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the PRC.
Foreign lending picks up in second quarter, offshore centers attract credit (Reuters) – International banking activity expanded for a second straight quarter between April and June with banks lending more to emerging markets, particularly China, and to investment funds in offshore centers such as the Cayman Islands, data showed on Monday.
Foreign lending to offshore centers rose to $2.269 trillion in the second quarter from $2.2 trillion in the first quarter with inflows to Cayman rising by 5 percent to $795 billion, according to figures released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), which tracks cross-border bank lending.
Foreign banks retrenched again from lending to Russia and Ukraine as Europe and the United States ratcheted up sanctions since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in March.
Foreign lending to Russia stood at $207.63 billion at the end of June, down $1.5 billion during the quarter and down nearly $12 billion since the start of this year, according to the BIS data.
Lending to Ukraine by international banks stood at $20 billion at the end of June, down $2 billion during the second quarter and down $4 billion since the start of the year.
(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins, editing by David Evans)
For more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/20/us-banks-lending-q-idUSKCN0I91FN20141020
Debt collection is a great line of work for ex-cons
By Laura Northrup From Consumerist
When a debt collector calls you, there’s a good chance that he or she might be an ex-convict calling you from a strip mall in Buffalo, New York. Buying and collecting debt is a lucrative business, and some people who had a rough upbringing have a real gift for it. Learn about the “Buffalo Talk-Off” and the Excel Spreadsheets of Doom.
[NPR] [Planet Money]
For more: http://consumerist.com/2014/10/17/debt-collection-is-a-great-line-of-work-for-ex-cons/
The FBI ratchets up its scare campaign over smartphone encryption
By Brad Reed From BGR
Did you know that if Apple and Google encrypt data on smartphones then terrorists, pedophiles and other very bad people will be able to roam completely free and likely destroy society as we know it? That’s the message that Federal Bureau of Investigation chief James Comey has been sending and he was at it again this week in a speech delivered to the Brookings Institute in which he railed against smartphone encryption as a direct threat to law enforcement’s ability to gather evidence.
“Unfortunately, the law hasn’t kept pace with technology, and this disconnect has created a significant public safety problem,” Comey said in his speech. “We call it ‘Going Dark,’ and what it means is this: Those charged with protecting our people aren’t always able to access the evidence we need to prosecute crime and prevent terrorism even with lawful authority…. With Going Dark, those of us in law enforcement and public safety have a major fear of missing out—missing out on predators who exploit the most vulnerable among us… Criminals and terrorists would like nothing more than for us to miss out.”
You’ll be unsurprised to know that the situation for the FBI isn’t as dire as Comey makes it out to be. Although Apple and Google may be closing off one avenue for police to investigate criminal suspects, technology as a whole has given them a lot more important tools to use than they’ve ever had before. Not only can law enforcement officials track suspects’ every move with the help of cellular providers’ metadata but they can also access every piece of data that suspects store in cloud services’ servers provided they have a warrant.
In other words, any criminal who thinks that they’ll be able to do whatever they want with their smartphones now that Apple and Google have encrypted their platforms’ data without fear of getting caught would be an absolute fool since cops still have plenty of other ways to track what they do on their mobile devices.
Nurse on flights may have had worse case of Ebola than previously thought
From Mashable
(AP) DENVER — A nurse who was on flights between Dallas and Cleveland and who later tested positive for Ebola may have been at a more advanced stage of the illness than previously thought, according to the president of Frontier Airlines.
Barry Biffle emailed employees Friday about the findings by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He said the CDC has assured the Denver-based airline that crewmembers on the flights are at a very low risk of exposure.
The airline put the pilots and flight attendants on leave for 21 days, which health experts consider the outer limit of how long it would take someone exposed to Ebola to become sick.
Biffle said passengers on Amber Joy Vinson’s flight from Dallas to Cleveland on Oct. 10 and her return flight to Dallas on Monday have been notified. VInson, 29, reported Ebola-like symptoms on Tuesday, and later tested positive for the disease. She is currently “ill, but clinically stable,” according to the CDC.
CDC director Tom Frieden said on Wednesday that Vinson “should not have traveled on a commercial aircraft” because she had been exposed to Ebola while caring for Thomas Eric Duncan, the first person to be diagnosed with Ebola in the United States. Duncan died last week.
Nina Pham, another nurse, was also infected after treating Duncan.
Digicel supports Caribbean culture and heritage
Friday 17th October, 2014 – Miami, Florida: Caribbean dishes and culture was on display at the Digicel-sponsored third annual Jerk and Caribbean Culture Festival held in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, October 19th 2014.
The event, hosted by Full-A-Vybez Incorporated, 1-800-411-PAIN and Medical Referral Service, is celebrating Caribbean heritage by giving patrons a change to enjoy live entertainment from popular Jamaican acts like Digicel Rising Star winner, Romain Virgo, Assassin, Rupee and Fab 5. There will also be exciting activities for the entire family, including a Kids Zone filled with rides, games, bounce houses, face painting and more.
Digicel Diaspora Head of Marketing, Andreina Gonzalez, said; “The festival is a great opportunity for our customers to taste authentic Caribbean cuisine and celebrate their love of Caribbean culture. The Digicel online top up team will be on hand to assist patrons to send top up to friends and family back home so that they can stay connected.”
Digicel is committed to keeping family and friends abroad connected to those at home in the Caribbean via online top up where they can log on to www.digicelgroup.com to send top up or minutes. Customers can also go into any of Digicel’s thousands of authorised retail locations across the US, Canada and the UK and purchase Digicel top up or send Digicel minutes to friends and relatives in their home country.
