iNews Briefs
Compensation sought by prisoner released on appeal
Eduardo Swaby was convicted in Summary Court in October 2011 of possession and intent to supply cocaine by Chief Magistrate Ramsey-Hale and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
However the conviction was overturned on appeal and the conviction was quashed because the Chief Magistrate had based her judgment on what was revealed as non-existent evidence.
Now Swaby’s attorney, Peter Polack, has approached the Attorney General’s Chambers to claim compensation out of public funds for his client who spent seven months in jail.
Section 7(8) of the Cayman Islands Constitution states that when a person has faced a miscarriage of justice or a conviction has been quashed, the victim can be so compensated.
New Queen album to feature unheard songs by Freddie Mercury, reveals Brian May
By Lizzie Catt From Daily Express UK
In what will be music to the ears of Queen fans Brian May has announced that a new album of unreleased songs featuring Freddie Mercury is in the pipeline.
Tentatively titled Queen Forever, Brian, 66, says that the material dates back to the 1980s when the band, including Roger Taylor and John Deacon, were in their original line-up and admits that he finds the songs “quite beautiful”.
“It is quite emotional,” says the guitarist-cum-astronomer. “It is the big, big ballads and the big, big epic sound. It is a compilation but will have this material that nobody in the world has ever heard. I think people will really enjoy it.”
It is a compilation but will have this material that nobody in the world has ever heard. I think people will really enjoy it.
Though the band recorded an abundance of material prior to Mercury’s death from Aids in 1991, Brian says they were in no state to be released without the help of modern studio technology, adding: “We had to start from scratch because we only had scraps. But knowing how it would have happened if we had finished it, I can sit there and make it happen with modern technology.”
Forever marks the second time that Mercury performs posthumously on Queen recordings after 1995’s Made In Heaven.
Former Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers fronted the band until 2009 though their only album recorded together, The Cosmos Rocks, was met with less than stellar reviews.
The remaining members are currently preparing to embark on a North American tour with American Idol singer Adam Lambert taking on the Mercury role
Colombia leader attending funeral for 28 children
From Washington Post
BOGOTA, Colombia — President Juan Manuel Santos will preside at the funeral for 28 of 33 children killed in a fire in an overcrowded bus bringing them home from Sunday School.
The government’s press office says that Santos and his family will attend Wednesday’s religious service in the community of Fundacion, near the Caribbean coast north of Bogota. One child has already been buried and separate arrangements have been made for the other four.
The children ranged in age from toddlers to 12 years. When the accident occurred May 18 they were traveling home from a small Pentecostal church down the road from the town where Nobel Prize-winning author Gabriel Garcia Marquez was born.
Authorities are pressing charges against the bus driver, its owner and the church member who contracted the vehicle.
Turn out low in Cayman for Colombian elections
For the first time in the Cayman Islands Colombian nationals living there were given the chance to vote in their home country’s presidential elections, but only 20 persons came out to vote.
There are 283 registered voters living in the Cayman Islands.
The Colombian election produced no outright winner so a run off will be held between the two candidates with the most votes in three weeks time.
Lloyds Banking Group to float a part of TSB unit
From The Hindu Business Line
State-rescued Lloyds Banking Group announced today its intention to float about part of its TSB unit as part of plans to meet European Union competition rules.
LBG plans next month to sell about 25 per cent of ordinary shares in TSB to list on the London Stock Exchange, said a statement issued by the bank that gave no details on pricing.
LBG will complete a full sale of the stake by the end of next year, it added.
“The decision to proceed with an initial public offering of TSB is an important further step for the Group as we act to meet our commitments to the European Commission,” LBG chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said of the EU’s executive arm.
Britain’s part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group relaunched TSB as a standalone lender last September as it prepares for LBG’s full return to the private sector.
LBG remains 25 per cent-owned by the British government after recent reductions to the taxpayer’s stake and as the banking group slowly recovers from a massive bailout.
It was rescued at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis with £20 billion of state funds, leading the EU to demand that it downsize.
Safehaven Marina in Cayman Islands handed over to Port Authority
Developer Michael Ryan who has been the man behind the Safehaven Marina off the West bay Road, Grand Cayman 14 years handed over $3 million plus facility to the Cayman Islands Port Authority last Tuesday (27).
H.E. Governor Helen Kilpatrick cut the ribbon at the official opening.
From Office of Premier The Safehaven Port Authority Marina officially opened Tuesday morning when, from left, developer Michael Ryan, Deputy Premier and Minister of Tourism Hon. Moses Kirkconnell, Her Excellency the Governor Helen Kilpatrick. Premier Hon. Alden McLaughlin and West Bay MLA and Minister of Education Hon. Tara Rivers gathered to cut the ribbon. The new marina has 21 boat slips, as well as improved parking and a public boat ramp. A Port Authority Administration Office will also be manned at the Marina. Mr. Ryan’s Silverfin Development Company began the $3 million marina project in 2012. Mr. Ryan turned the development over to the Government at no charge
Young boy nearly drowns aboard Royal Caribbean ship
By Mike Faust From Cruise Currents
According to a report by The Royal Caribbean Blog, a young boy sailing aboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas nearly drowned today after being found unconsciousness in one of the ship’s main swimming pools.
The young boy was reportedly found at the bottom of one of the ship’s main Lido pools, in an conscious state. Upon his discovery, the ship’s medical team responded and administered care until additional medical services arrived via helicopter. The young boy was airlifted off of the ship and flown to a hospital in nearby France.
The condition of the boy is currently known to be serious. No additional information is currently available.
The Independence of the Seas is currently sailing on a six night western European sailing.
Over the past few months, a number of similar incidents aboard various cruise ships have ignited debate over the role of lifeguards on the Lido deck. Currently, only one major cruise line employs lifeguards, Disney Cruise Line.
For more: http://www.cruisecurrents.com/archives/16793
11th annual Inner Space Conference is underway in Cayman Islands
The 11th Annual Inner Space Conference is underway at Cobalt Coast Resort in West Bay, Grand Cayman and it’s the largest event for re-breather divers in the world.
Divers have the chance to go down to 400ft in Cayman’s unparalleled reefs on dives lasting as long as three hours because re-breather technology allows divers to breathe an optimum blend of gases for the conditions.
Because of the re-breather technology there are no bubbles to interfere with the natural sounds of the ocean that has been likened to a big orchestral concert.
The weeklong Inner Space conference runs through Saturday (31 May).
Why it’s impossible to make an NSA-proof computer
By Ben Zigterman From BGR
The past year has not been a great one for computer security. Last summer, Edward Snowden revealed how the NSA has been exploiting vulnerabilities to spy on people, Target suffered a massive security breach that exposed the credit card information for as much as a third of the American population, the Heartbleed bug was a major vulnerability found in the Internet’s most common encryption standard, and eBay just asked all 145 million of its customers to change their passwords after a security breach. But that was just the tip of the iceberg.
If you think it seems like computer security isn’t doing very well to combat the constant threat from hackers, you’re right. At least, that’s what Quinn Norton argues in a piece on his Medium blog titled Everything is Broken.
She argues that every computer and every piece of software we use is vulnerable to hackers because of terrible security flaws. The reason for all these flaws, Norton says, it that these programs are being written by developers who face immense pressure to ship software quickly. Security is simply not a top priority in this context. Even the people who focus on computer security struggle to keep track of every vulnerability.
How bad is it? Every time you are asked to update your software and the release notes say that security bugs have been fixed, Norton says that those bugs may have been there for years unnoticed, leaving systems susceptible to attacks.
Norton cites a couple of scary examples to show just how broken everything is. One of her friends was able to accidentally take control of more than 50,000 computers in four hours after finding a security vulnerability. Another one of her colleagues accidentally shut down a factory for a day after sending a “malformed ping.”
Man charged with burglary after crashing van in George Town Grand Cayman
A man (41) who was caught with stolen goods in a stolen van that he had crashed in George Town on 22nd May has been charged with burglary. The man was arrested after police who attended the scene of the accident found stolen power tools in the back of the van taken two days previously from a house in North Side.
The man has also been accused of stealing jewellery from inside a truck parked at Kaibo on the morning before he had fled the scene in a stolen van headed for George Town.
The man, who is from Bodden Town, has been remanded in custody.
Jamaican student arrested in stabbing death of 14-year-old following ‘love fight’
From Caribbean360
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Wednesday May 28, 2014, CMC – Jamaica police have detained a 17-year-old female student after she stabbed a 14-year-old girl in a fight allegedly over a lover.
The police said 14-year-old Ashley Morris was stabbed in the neck and pronounced dead at hospital on Monday night.
Media reports said the two girls were fighting over a man when the knife was used to stab Morris.
Last week, police charged a 14-year-old boy in connection with the death of nine year old Romain Robinson, in Plantation Heights in the western parish of St. James.
The victim’s mother said the killing may have been over a pair of shoes.
Drug bust in Caribbean Sea nets nearly US$388 million in cocaine
From Caribbean360
JACKSONVILLE, Florida, Tuesday May 27, 2014, CMC – The United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency says its Office of Air and Marine aircraft while on night patrol in the Caribbean seized 93 bales of cocaine weighing more than 5,180 lbs and worth more than US$387,700,000.
“The opportunity to work with our partner nations to effect an interception and seizure of this size makes the hours our aircraft crews put in patrolling the endless miles of ‘blue ocean’ more than worth it,” said Doug Garner, CBP’s Director of National Air Security Operations Center, Jacksonville.
The crew reportedly detected a four-engine go-fast style vessel about 150 miles northeast of Panama City, Panama last week running at high speed with its lights out.
Colombian law enforcement responded to intercept the suspected vessel but before intercepting the crew the vessel beached in a remote region in the Colombian western territory.
When law enforcement arrived the crew had deserted the 93 bales of cocaine on-board.
Cayman Minister wants local Chamber of Commerce to back him instead of criticizing him
Osbourne Bodden, Cayman Islands Minister in charge of the Waste Management Project (Cayman’s Dump) wants the Cayman Islands Chamber of Commerce to back him with their support instead of criticizing him for not producing a quick fix.
In a letter to Chamber President, Johann Moxam, the Minister said he intended to deal with it in an open and transparent manner and asked the Chamber president to change his “attitude”.
He also asked the Chamber to use its resources to help with a planned government public awareness campaign once it starts.
Moxam replied:
“Minister Bodden suggests that one of the main roles of the Chamber would be to use its membership and resources to fund and facilitate the public relations campaign that Government needs to accompany the process. We look forward to receiving further information about this campaign to determine the level of support we can provide.
“However, we would expect that the company that is hired will develop a comprehensive public relations strategy which includes seed funding for advertising and public information campaigns. The ultimate objective must be to ensure that everyone is informed about the changes that will be required to effectively implement the approved integrated waste management strategy, including recycling, composting, tyres and oil disposal, handling of toxic and medical wastes.
“With the price tag of more than a CI$100 million, which will ultimately be paid for by the residents and business community, it is imperative that we as a Chamber remain involved in our continued call for transparency, accountability and objectivity in the process of developing our islands’ integrated solid waste management strategy and plans.”
Moxam also added that the strategic outline plan was only an assessment of the history and the present situation of Cayman’s solid waste management situation.
“Despite grappling with this issue for more than a decade, [Cayman] still does not have a solid waste management policy or the local expertise to develop a policy, nor does it have funds to implement any solution without private sector help.”
Jamaica sprint star appeals to reduce 18-month doping ban
From Caribbean360
LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Tuesday May 27, 2014, CMC – Jamaican sprint star Asafa Powell has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, asking for his 18-month ban to be reduced to three months.
The 31-year-old tested positive for the banned stimulant oxilofrine at last year’s national championships and was slapped with the suspension by the Jamaica Anti-doping Commission in April.
However, Powell subsequently branded the ruling as “unfair and unjust” and said he would appeal.
Fellow Jamaican sprinter Sherone Simpson, who was also banned for 18 months following a positive drugs test for the same substance, has also appealed to CAS for a reduction in the JADCO suspension.
“The athletes put forward that the offense committed is minor and request that the suspensions be reduced to [three] months,” CAS said in a statement.
S. E. A. (Science. Environment. Nature.) Camp in Cayman
This camp is for children aged 6 years and upwards and helps children to learn about what is in and around our beautiful ocean.
Last year, hermit crab racing and exploring rock pools were great hits and all the children loved snorkelling, even if they had never tried it before.
To book a space or to discuss further details, please call Amanda on 916 5799 or email her at [email protected]
See attachment for details
