iNews Briefs
Cayman Islands earnings better than expected
Cayman Islands Premier Alden McLaughlin said the Government’s Operating Bank account balances at September 30th 2014 totalled $67.1 million. This equates to over $2.5 million more than expected and spending was also down $5.5million, less than had been projected. “The Government is confident those balances will remain positive throughout the entire fiscal year,” the premier said in his State of the Nation address.
“Our economic policies are working and the economic indices are pointing to encouraging growth,” McLaughlin added also saying, “The growth rates are the strongest estimated so far for the country during the post-2008 global financial crisis period.”
Man jailed for having sex, fathering children with his daughter
From Caribbean360
PARAMARIBO, Suriname, Monday October 20, 2014, CMC – A court has sentenced a man to eight years in jail after he admitted having sex with his child and fathering her two children.
Joshua L, admitted that he had sex with his daughter, who was 13 years at the time, after he got aroused from catching her watching a porn movie.
The court heard he also fathered her two children in 2011 and 2013.
The man, whose full name was not disclosed, was arrested and prosecuted after his daughter identified him to a neighbour as the father of her children.
Before she moved to Suriname to live with her father, the girl, who’s identity has also been withheld, lived in Guyana. She told investigators that when she arrived here, her father forbid her to have any social contact. Being in a strange country, she was totally dependent upon him.
Joshua L. insisted that he had not raped the girl, but that it had been her who seduced him. The prosecutor demanded 12 years in jail, but Judge Maytrie Kuldipsingh took into consideration that the man had never been in trouble with the law before.
Judge Kuldipsingh scolded him for taking advantage of his daughter and ruining her young life.
She said because of him, the daughter is now a teenage mother of two children.
One child has been sent to live with relatives in Guyana and the other has been given up for adoption.
France snatches world blind wine-tasting crown from Belgium
From Mashable
Ay (France) (AFP) – France on Saturday won the world blind wine-tasting competition for teams, unseating reigning champion Belgium.
The annual event, launched last year, was held in the eastern French town of Ay and drew four-member teams from 18 countries, including Spain, China, Russia and Argentina.
The teams, blind-tasting fine wines from around the world, had to identify their countries of origin, the grape varieties used in them, their appellations and their vintages.
The winning team of Jean-Michel Perrussan, Eddy Gautier, Didier Sanchez and Pierre Citerne all came from the southern Toulouse region.
“Very often the first impressions given by the nose or the robe (colour) put us on the right track,” said team leader Perrussan.
“Then we have to begin the process of elimination,” said the 53-year-old radiologist who trains once a week to blind-taste wines.
Philippe de Cantenac, a journalist for the French wine monthly that organised the event, said the third championships would be held next October at Chateauneuf-du-Pape, near the southern city of Avignon and famed for its distinctive red wine.
Cayman Islands Speaker narrowly loses in election of CPA chair
Juliana O’Connor-Connolly lost by 67 votes to 70 in a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) vote earlier this month in Cameroon to elect a new chair.
Bangladeshi Shirin-Sharmin-Chowdhurry won the vote, held at the 60th General Assembly meeting of the association.
The organization promotes parliamentary democracy across the Commonwealth.
Shirin-Sharmin-Chowdhurry is the Speaker of Jatiyo Sangshad. She will serve for the next three years as the chair of the 35-member committee.
US cancels Visas for Hungarian officials over corruption allegations
From RIANOVOSTI
MOSCOW, October 18 (RIA Novosti) – The United States imposed sanctions against some Hungarian officials and businessmen over their alleged involvement in corruption, Deutsche Welle has reported, citing US charge d’affaires of the US Embassy in Budapest Andre Goodfriend.
The diplomat did not name the corruption suspects, who were denied entry visas to the United States.
According to the local media reports, the entry ban could target people associated with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and be a response to Hungary’s rapprochement with Russia.
The United States and its allies have already imposed several rounds of economic sanctions against Russia, accusing it of supporting independence fighters in southeastern Ukraine.
Earlier on Thursday, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said he sanctions imposed against Russia by the West are not helping in resolving the situation in Ukraine and are hurting the economies of EU member-states.
Russian President Vladimir Putin repeatedly stated that Western sanctions undermine economic stability in the world and hurt not only the target country but also those using the measure.
Cayman Islands: Waterspout spotted off runway
From Barbados Today
A CNS reader captured an impressive image of a waterspout that had formed on the North Sound just off the Owen Roberts International Airport runway, Saturday. Fortunately there was no aircraft taking off at the time. Although not an uncommon weather phenomenon around Cayman this was a particularly large example of an intense columnar vortex. Waterspouts are non-supercell tornadoes, less powerful than land tornadoes and connected to towering cumuliform cloud or cumulonimbus cloud.
For more: http://www.barbadostoday.bb/2014/10/20/cayman-waterspout-spotted-off-runway/
Earth headed for its hottest year on record after a record-warm September
By Dr. Jeff Masters From Weather Underground
September 2014 was Earth’s warmest September on record, the period January – September was tied with 1998 and 2010 as the warmest first three-quarters of any year on record, and the past 12 months–October 2013 through September 2014–was the warmest consecutive 12-month period among all months since records began in 1880, said NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) today.
NASA also rated September 2014 as the warmest September on record. If 2014 maintains the same temperature departure from average for the remainder of the year as was observed during January – September, it will be the warmest calendar year on record. September is the fourth time NOAA has ranked a 2014 month as the warmest on record; May, June, and August 2014 were also the warmest such months on record. (April 2014 was originally ranked as tied for warmest April on record, but has since been revised downwards to the second warmest April on record.)
Global ocean temperatures during September 2014 were the warmest on record, and the 0.66°C (1.19°F) ocean temperature anomaly was the highest ever measured, beating the record set just the month previously in August 2014. Global land temperatures in September 2014 were the 6th warmest on record. Global satellite-measured temperatures in September 2014 for the lowest 8 km of the atmosphere were the 14th or 7th warmest in the 36-year record, according to Remote Sensing Systems and the University of Alabama Huntsville (UAH), respectively.
For more: http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2837
Barbells for Boobs in Cayman Islands
Get ready for Barbells for Boobs in Cayman. We will be doing “Amazing Grace” on Saturday, October 25th at the 9am class and all proceeds will go to the Cayman Islands Cancer Society. Show up in your best pink outfit (best dressed wins a prize) and donate for a great cause! See you all there.
For more: http://crossfitcayman.com/2014/10/20/barbells-for-boobs-in-cayman/
5 Facts about Climate Change in the Caribbean
From AMG
Natural events and human activities contribute to an increase in average temperatures around the world, with increases in greenhouse gases such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2) as the main cause.
The Caribbean region, and the planet, are warming. Here are five key facts about climate change.
The Caribbean is a minute contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions, but will be among the most severely impacted
We are already experiencing its impacts. More frequent extreme weather events, such as the 2013 rain event in the Eastern Caribbean; the extreme droughts being experienced across the region, with severe consequences in places like Jamaica; the 2005 flooding in Guyana and Belize in 2010. And further Climate Change is inevitable in the coming decades
Inaction is VERY costly! An economic analysis focused on just three areas – increased hurricane damages, loss of tourism revenue and infrastructure damages – could cost the region US$10.7 billion by 2025. That is more than the combined GDP of OECS Member States
These risks can be managed by taking ‘no regrets’ actions – development actions we must take in any event. So we must build our infrastructure to withstand more intense weather events, select crops that can withstand extreme conditions and climate-influenced opportunistic pests, and transform our planning frameworks to improve our resilience
Climate Change is a fossil-energy related problem. Fossil fuel consumption is a major driver of Climate Change. It also costs the Region US$37 million of its foreign exchange earnings and further reduces the potential for economic growth. Employing renewable forms of energy will allow us to tackle two big problems: climate change and economic competitiveness.
Provided by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre
For more: http://www.antillean.org/5-facts-climate-change-caribbean/
Cayman Islands premier tells business operators to do their part
From Loop Cayman
The Premier of the Cayman Islands Alden McLaughlin has challenged businesses to do more in order to reduce the cost of living in the Cayman Islands.
The Premier said that businesses were quick to hike prices when there were increases in duty, but the opposite was not being done when businesses had reduced taxes.
McLaughlin gave an example of the recent removal of duty on baking materials which were made to be similar to imported bread but the consumers were yet to enjoy these benefits.
“We are doing the very best; we do not want to increase taxes because we know that this would lead to increase of the cost of living,” he said.
This is the second time that McLaughlin has addressed the issue. Recently, in his State of the Union address, the Premier advised that businesses needed to address jobless growth of the economy.
McLaughlin said that because they operated in the Cayman Islands, businesses needed to hire more Caymanians, especially those who have been rehabilitated in prison.
He also told the businesses to hire locally instead of outsourcing overseas.
For more: http://loopcayman.com/2014/10/20/alden-mclaughlin-tells-business-operators-to-do-their-part/
Air Force’s mysterious space drone returns after two years in orbit
By Steve Dent From engadget
Following its longest-ever mission by far, the 11,000 pound X-37B unmanned spacecraft has returned to Earth bearing… well, we don’t actually know. You see, after NASA and Boeing developed the craft (about a fifth the size of the Space Shuttle), it bounced over to the Air Force, which is using it for top-secret missions. The X-37B’s longest previous flight lasted about 15 months, and this time, it stayed in orbit just shy of two years. As for what it was doing up there, exactly, cue the speculation. Some experts think it was launching spy gear from the pickup-bed-sized payload bay, while others believe it was designed to capture or impair enemy satellites. The Air Force denies all that, saying it was just testing space tech like advanced guidance, robotic systems and autonomous orbital flight. It certainly nailed the latter — with no human at the controls, the X-37B made a perfect touchdown following a 218 mile-high descent. To see it, check the all-too-brief video at link below
For more: http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/18/air-force-x-37b-returns/?ncid=rss_truncated
Special Needs Foundation Cayman says “THANK YOU”
Thank you
Thank you to DMS and Cayman First for choosing Special Needs Foundation Cayman (SNFC) as the benefiting charity of the Corporate Cup Challenge. Also many thanks to the 17 teams who took part on our behalf. What a great day.
For more: http://www.specialneedsfoundation.ky/general/thank-you/
Bill Kristol: Linking Ebola lapses to racism Is ‘Crazy’
By Bill Hoffmann From Newsmax
Melissa Harris-Perry’s suggestion that race may play a role in the Ebola crisis is “really crazy,” says Bill Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard.
During a panel discussion on her MSNBC show on Saturday, Harris-Perry mentioned that the only person to die from Ebola on U.S. soil thus far is a black man from west Africa.
She added that two nurses who treated Thomas Eric Duncan and subsequently came down with the virus themselves are “women of color” — all of which may have an impact on the way Americans look at the crisis.
Panelist Joy Reid then mentioned the so-called “urban myth” that Duncan purposely used his infected African body as a weapon of mass destruction.
“That’s really crazy . . . Those commentators are a little nuts,” Kristol said Monday on “The Steve Malzberg Show” on Newsmax TV.
Kristol called the nation’s botched response to the crisis a combination of “liberalism at its worst” and “political correctness.”
“Conservatives need to make that critique, they need to not just say, gee, Obama’s a bad administrator, he’s playing too much golf, but this is what happens when everyone has liberal policies and big-government bureaucracies and political correctness all coming together, and it’s not good for the country,” Kristol said.
He also criticized the president’s appointment of Ron Klain, a former chief of staff for Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Al Gore, to the post of Ebola czar.
For more and vifeo: http://www.Newsmax.com/Newsmax-Tv/Bill-Kristol-Melissa-Harris-Perry-lapses-racist/2014/10/20/id/601914/#ixzz3GmhQiloT
Cayman Islands veteran marathon man ready for Ireland
Cayman’s veteran marathon runner Derek Haines says he is in good shape and confident of finishing the next race in Ireland despite a troubling swollen ankle.
Haines will run his penultimate marathon in the six races for Hospice for the year on Monday 27 October when he competes in the 35th Dublin marathon.
Haines is hoping to push the total pledged to build a residential care facility for Cayman Hospice past $800,000.
Haines will be celebrating his 66 years five days before his fifth race.
Haines’ Six4hospice has won the admiration and respect of the community and this month Jacques Scott opened their Cocktail week with a Jame Bond ‘Shaken not Stirred’ night at the Grand Old House with $50 from the $75 going to the fund. Also Blackbeards and Big Daddy’s are donating a percentage of their takings during ‘Derektober’.
Haines said people can make a donation and keep an eye on the fundraising progress on the web site www.six4hospice.com and to follow him in next Monday’s race visit http://dublinmarathon.ie/
Durrell helps save very rare Caribbean frog
From Jersey Evening Post
ONE of the world’s rarest types of frog, bred as part of a Durrell conservation programme to save the species from extinction, has been successfully returned to its Caribbean home.
Fifty one critically-endangered mountain chicken frogs have been released back to Montserrat following an international breeding programme.
Conservationists feared that the frogs – which are native only to Montserrat and Dominica – faced extinction after the wild population severely declined due to disease.
For more: http://jerseyeveningpost.com/news/2014/10/21/durrell-helps-save-very-rare-caribbean-frog/
Veteran reggae singer, John Holt, dead at 69
From Caribbean360
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Monday October 20, 2014, CMC – The veteran Jamaican reggae singer, John Holt, has died. He was 69.
His manager Copeland Forbes said the singer, whose hits included Stick by Me, Only a Smile, Tonight, Ali Baba and I See Your Face, died in a London hospital on Sunday.
Holt first rose to fame as a member of The Paragons in the 1960s, a group in which he penned The Tide is High, a track which saw global notoriety in the 1980s with Blondie’s cover.
In 1970, Holt left the Paragons to focus on his solo career, and soon became one of the biggest names in reggae, with his track Stick By Me, recorded with producer Bunny Lee, listed as the biggest-selling Jamaican record of 1972. His last solo album was Peacemaker released in 1993.
The cause of his death is yet to be confirmed.
He was awarded the Order of Distinction, Jamaica’s fifth highest honour, in 2004. Holt is survived by his wife, Merl.
For more: http://www.caribbean360.com/entertainment/veteran-reggae-singer-john-holt-dead-at-69#ixzz3GnDKN2Cx
Tackling marine pollution on land
From DW
The Caribbean island of St. Lucia faces multiple threats from overfishing, mass tourism, the growing use of pesticides and the illegal dumping of waste in the oceans. One project is trying to clean up.
Watch the report
Project goal: The Caribbean Aqua-Terrestrial Solutions Programm (CATS) has two goals: adapting farming methods in Caribbean countries to climate change and protecting marine and coastal systems
Implementation: monitoring sea turtles and their eggs, making fishing and tourism more sustainable, eco-friendly farming and reforestation measures as well as improving sewage infrastructure
Investment: The International Climate Initiative (IKI) supports the worldwide Blue Solutions Network, which includes CATS, with 6.3 million Euros
Key species: sea turtles
The Caribbean island of St. Lucia is home to sea turtles and other marine species that are rapidly vanishing. Poaching of turtle eggs remains a huge problem as does the dumping of waste in the ocean. Mass tourism and large cruise ships have destroyed coral reefs. An initiative by the German development aid organization, GIZ, is working with locals to patrol and protect turtle habitats. The group works closely with communities and the government to improve sewage infrastructure, raise awareness through workshops and seminars and develop measures to better protect the island’s threatened flora and fauna.
A film by Anja Kimmig
For more and video go to: http://www.dw.de/tackling-marine-pollution-on-land/a-18009607
