iNews Briefs
Cayman Islands college students to discuss draft student policy
The International College of the Cayman Islands (ICCI) student body is holding a meeting Wednesday night (17) to discuss the college’s recently released draft student policy.
The group wants clarification on some of the guidelines proposed.
Cayman Islands ex premier ran up gambling debts on government credit card over $33k court hears
Ex Cayman Islands Premier McKeeva Bush who is on trial for corruption and misconduct offences ran up a debt of over $33,000 in the early months of 2010 on his Government credit card to play in casinos in the USA and the Bahamas the court heard on Tuesday (16).
These amounts were on top of an existing and mounting cash debt already on the card that had not seen Bush make any payments since December 2009.
Bush did pay back some of the $33,000 but there was still $10,000 owing for two and a half years.
This money was only paid back when Bush heard police was investigating his credit card statements.
The Court heard that the ex-premier was a compulsive gambler and had at one time lost more than a quarter of a million dollars. Some was owed on his own credit card as well as his government card.
Experts ask for further efforts in food security in Latin America
(Prensa Latina) There is a breakthrough in food security in Latin America and the Caribbean, but much remains to break the gap between the haves and have-nots more, said an expert in a food forum that happens here.
In a keynote lecture at the VI Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Quality and Food Safety, Dr. José Miguel Bastías, president of the Latin American and Caribbean Association of Science and Technology of Foods, said the problem is not food quality, but its distribution.
‘A year after the deadline for meeting the Millennium Development Goals, which was reduced by 50 percent the number of hungry people, there are still 47 million people in Latin America who are hungry, so need to intensify these efforts, “stressed the academic from the University of Bio-Bio, Chile.
For the Chilean specialist, there is hope that the goal can be achieved by 2025, as there is a political will in many countries of the region, which was expressed in the results of the first summits held by the Community of Latin American and Caribbean.
The VI Latin American and Caribbean Congress on Safety and Quality of Food, scheduled from 15 to 22 September at the Palace of Conventions in Havana, brings together experts in various fields such as sommeliers, bartenders, chefs, researchers, artists, filmmakers and journalists, addressing such issues multilaterally.
The event aims at facilitating the union of the fields of science and technology, food tourism and culture to examine different aspects of interest and current trends.
This meeting has associated events such as V National Congress of Food and Nutrition, and several music samples on Cuban cuisine, the mass media in the food culture and allusive plastic food (Cubalumieregourmet 2014).
This meeting includes a untittled Fair Expo Hall-Latin American and Caribbean Food Industry (SIAL-CUBA, 2014), where domestic and foreign processing food companies are present.
For more: http://www.plenglish.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3084641&Itemid=1
Cayman Cancer society announces programmes and events for Childhood Cancer Awareness Month
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and the Cayman Islands Cancer Society (CICS) and the Society will be presenting childhood cancer talks every day next week at Clifton Hunter High School.
On 25th September the CICS will be hosting a programme that will be open to the public to make everyone aware that blood and brain cancers are the two most common cancers for children.
The CICS is at present providing financial support to more than eighty patients, of which ten percent of those are children.
Change This World: Hunger in Haiti
Here in America, we are blessed by the opportunities and resources we have to provide ourselves with nourishment. Don’t hear me wrong, there are absolutely homeless and hungry people living in the United States, but in underdeveloped countries like Haiti, there aren’t always the same opportunities for a better life.
The current poverty level in Haiti is 77%, and over half of Haiti’s population lives in rural areas. Basic utilities such as water and electric are rare. Less than 8% have drinking water and only 10% have electricity. It is hard to imagine a life without these basic utilities because most Americans have not grown up with this kind of poverty.
We need to remember to appreciate the simple things that we do have; air conditioning, cars, comfortable beds. It is the simple things that matter the most.
Give a gift that gives HOPE
$9 provides a meal a day for a child for 1 month
$27 provides a meal a day for a child for 3 months
$108 provides a meal a day for a child for 1 year
$432 provides a meal a day for a family of 4 for 1 year
Make your gift recurring and multiply your impact every month!
To donate: https://my.changethisworld.com/checkout/donation?eid=34652
5 More Cuban migrants arrive on Cayman Brac
Last Monday night (15) five Cuban migrants, four men and one woman arrived in Cayman Brac..
Their 12 ft boat was found to be “not seaworthy” so the migrants could not carry on with their journey.
They will be transported to the George Town Immigration Detention Centre in Grand Cayman at a later date.
Aegon’s Pelargos seeks to triple Japan Alpha hedge fund’s assets
By Komaki Ito From Bloomberg
Pelargos Capital BV, a Dutch hedge-fund manager spunoff from insurer Aegon NV, is seeking to more than triple over the next three to five years the assets of its Japan Alpha Fund that has outperformed peers.
Pelargos is looking to raise money from pension funds, financial institutions and funds-of-funds in Japan, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S., Chief Executive Officer Richard Dingemans said in an interview in Tokyo. It is setting up a unit trust for the strategy that bets on rising and falling stock prices in the Cayman Islands by the end of the year, he said.
The company, based in the Hague, the Netherlands, currently has $150 million in the strategy and another fund focused on Asia outside of Japan that is still closed to outside investors, Dingemans said. The funds have $380 million in assets, he said.
The Japan Alpha Fund, which employs the long-short strategy, is trying to capture a wider range of investors after building a track record. The fund returned 44 percent after fees since inception July 2008 through July, outperforming the 39 percent gain by the Eurekahedge Japan Hedge Fund Index tracking similar funds, and a 5.3 percent decline by the MSCI Japan Index in the period.
The fund invests in 80 Japanese companies, targeting double-digit returns and single-digit risk, Chief Investment Officer Michael Kretschmer said in the same interview.
Pelargos, in which Aegon holds a 68 percent stake, was founded in 2008. Aegon has committed more than $300 million until 2017 to the manager, Dingemans said.
Caymanian lady celebrates her 101st birthday
On the 11th September, the anniversary of Hurricane Ivan, Caymanian Lillian Pearson celebrated her 101st birthday.
Speaking on CITN/Cayman27 on Tuesday (16) she said:
“I said to myself I wonder how you feel when you get 101 because I don’t feel that way. That’s not my age because I don’t feel it. I feel like I’m 18-years-old. Thank God my body don’t feel bad. I thank the Lord I haven’t taken medicine in my life; besides an Aspirin for headache every now and again. And I haven’t been sick to be in the hospital. I had a good life. I can still read. I can still sing. I can still walk and talk. And everything else is all me. Everything He gave me -I still got it. Praise the Lord!”
Haitian businessman “Pasha” Vorbe subject of arrest warrant
From HCNN
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (HCNN) – The Haitian Judge Lamarre Belizaire – who conduct an inquiry into acts of corruption blamed on former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide and dozens of his allies – issued on Tuesday an arrest warrant against businessman Joel Edward “Pasha” Vorbe who has decided not to appear at the judge’s office where he was summoned to answer charges of money laundering and criminal conspiracy, judicial sources told HCNN on Tuesday.
Vorbe, denouncing actions by the investigating judge he described as political persecutions, has decided to challenge the judge in a letter sent to judge Belizaire.
Vorbe, a close ally of Aristide and board member of the Fanmi Lavalas party of former Haitian president, was summoned to appear on Tuesday at the judge’s office.
Several former allies of Aristide and the former leader himself are the subject of an arrest warrant and a travel ban.
Kirkconnell to announce final Miss Cayman Islands contestants on Thursday
From Loop News Service
IMAGE: loop-miss-cayman-islands
Minister of Tourism, Moses Kirkconnell, will introduce the final Miss Cayman 2015 contestants on Thursday September 18.
The announcement will take place at 11:30 am at the Government Information Service Marketing & Communications Studio, 2nd Floor Government Administration Building.
The Chairperson of Miss Cayman Islands Committee, Derri Lee and Miss Cayman Islands Committee representative, Heather Bodden will be in attendance.
HBO brings you a thrilling Saturday night with the exclusive premiere of “Captain Phillips”
Miami, FL – September 16, 2014 – HBO presents the exclusive premiere of the acclaimed drama film Captain Phillips this Saturday, September 20th at 21:00hrs AST* in the Caribbean.
Based on a true story, the Oscar® and Golden Globe® nominated film follows merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips as his cargo ship was taken hostage by Somali pirates while they sailed the Indian Ocean, 145 miles off the coast of Somalia.
Now, he’ll go to great lengths to keep his crew alive and safe from the pirates and their impulsive leader, Muse. The vessel, named “Maersk Alabama,” was the first American ship to be hijacked by pirates in the last 200 years.
This dramatic thriller includes chilling performances from Tom Hanks (Richard Phillips), Catherine Keener (Andrea Phillips), Barkhad Abdi (Abduwali Muse), Barkhad Abdirahman (Bilal), Mahat M. Ali (Elmi) and Faysal Ahmed (Najee); directed by Paul Greengrass and produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca.
*Atlantic Standard time. For local transmission times by country, visit www.hbomax.tv or consult your cable operator.
Cayman weighs adopting daylight savings time
From Yahoo News
GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (AP) — The Cayman Islands is considering a switch to daylight savings time, citing potential benefits to its financial services and tourism sectors.
Commerce Minister Wayne Panton says adopting the spring-ahead, fall-back clock adjustments would put the Caribbean offshore financial center more in sync with its “large client base in New York” and simplify business travel.
He also said Monday that the adjustments would also likely increase the number of hours that cruise ships are in Cayman ports.
The government of the three-island British territory is asking the public to take a survey on the possibility of adopting daylight savings time. A public consultation period runs through Oct. 30.
Daylight savings achieves its clock adjustments by making one day of the year 23 hours long and another 25 hours long.
For more on this story go to: http://news.yahoo.com/cayman-weighs-adopting-daylight-savings-time-224842303.html
Cayman planning airport redevelopment
By Alexander Britell From Caribbean Journal
ST THOMAS — The Cayman Islands is planning a redevelopment at its Owen Roberts International Airport in Grand Cayman.
Construction on the first phase of the airport is set to begin in May 2015, Cayman Islands Director of Tourism Rosa Harris announced ahead of the Caribbean Tourism Organization State of the Industry Conference in St Thomas on Wednesday.
The redevelopment is part of what is a planned 20-year project at the airport, Harris said.
The Airports Authority has already embarked on a series of improvements to the airport, including expanded shading leading into the arrivals area.
Harris said an air-conditioned area was planned in the interim to deal with air arrival volume.
That would include an enclosed tent and an expanded departure lounge with capacity for about 500 seats.
For more: http://www.caribjournal.com/2014/09/17/cayman-planning-airport-redevelopment/
Miss Cayman Islands contestants schooled in etiquette
From loop news Service
IMAGE: loop-miss-cayman-islands-lobster-pot
The Miss Cayman Islands contestants were exposed to fine-dining etiquette training at the Lobster Pot Restaurant on Sunday, September 15th.
The restaurant graciously sponsored the event for the Miss Cayman Islands pageant and trainers, during which the ladies were tutored by Protocol Coordinator Meloney Syms on what customs and table manners would be appropriate for a future ambassador – or for any dining experience.
During the four-course meal the ladies demonstrated the practical side in areas ranging from silverware choices to making formal toasts.
For more go to: http://loopcayman.com/2014/09/16/miss-cayman-islands-contestants-schooled-etiquette/
Cayman bank warns customers of fake email doing the rounds
Cayman National Bank (CNB) is warning customers to ignore an email that appears to come from them.
The email tells people their account has temporarily been suspended. It claims customers need to click a “rectify” button and enter information.
The bank is investigating the fake correspondence. CNB’s IT department is working to remove any links from their servers.
