iNews Briefs
Caymanian male admits stabbing man on Grand Cayman
Mark Charles Bodden, a Caymanian, pleaded guilty to wounding his victim with a prohibitive weapon, flick-knife, he was carrying by stabbing him in the chest.
This was during an altercation they were having in the early morning hours by Jacques Scott, Shedden Road, George Town, Grand Cayman on December 13th.
Bodden appeared last Friday (16) in the Grand Court and was remanded in custody until sentencing in February.
Al Sharpton calls for emergency meeting to address ‘appalling’ all-white Oscar nominees
By Colin Campbell from Business Insider
The Rev. Al Sharpton was left fuming mad after the Oscars revealed its all-white list of nominees for this year’s Oscar awards on Thursday.
“The movie industry is like the Rocky Mountains, the higher you get, the whiter it gets,” Sharpton quipped in a statement released later in the afternoon.
Sharpton, a critic of the lack of diversity in Hollywood, also announced he was holding an “emergency meeting” next week to address the issue.
“I have called an emergency meeting early next week in Hollywood with the task force to discuss possible action around the Academy Awards,” he said.
The prestigious awards ceremony was widely criticized after its nominees for best actor, best actress, and best director were all white. In the past two decades this has happened only one other time, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sharpton praised the Oscars for nominating the civil-rights film “Selma” for best picture, but said it was “ironic” because the film is based on Dr. Martin Luther King’s marches.
Said Sharpton: “The lack of diversity in today’s Oscar nominations is appalling and while it is good that Selma was nominated for ‘Best Picture,’ it’s ironic that they nominated a story about the racial shutout around voting while there is a racial shutout around the Oscar nominations. With all of the talent in Selma and other Black movies this year, it is hard to believe that we have less diversity in the nominations today than in recent history.”
For more: http://www.businessinsider.com/al-sharpton-blasts-appalling-oscars-2015-1#ixzz3PPrhv7Nh
Cayman Islands leads in Caribbean Cervical Cancer e-petition
Cayman Islands 3,658 (1st place) Belize 3,449 (2nd place). These are the top countries so far in the Caribbean Cervical Cancer e-petition at: www.endcervicalcancernow.org
The e-petition is a regional effort to make screening and HPV vaccines readily available to women. The Cayman Islands Cancer Society (CICS) is working with Caribbean partners to make a presentation to Caribbean heads of government and over 15,000 signatures are on the petition. That carries a warning – Cervical Cancer Kills.
Trinidad suspends Caribbean Airlines pilots to investigate near aircraft collision in US
From Jamaica Observer
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Safety inspectors from the Trinidad and Tobago Civil Aviation Authority (TTCAA) are due to hold discussions with Federal Aviation Administration Air Traffic Control (ATC) officials on Tuesday following the near collision involving the Trinidad-based Caribbean Airlines (CAL) and a fully loaded Jetblue plane at the John F Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.
TTCAA director Ramesh Lutchmedial also confirmed that the two CAL pilots had been taken off flying duties, pending the outcome of the investigation.
“Caribbean Airlines Ltd is fully co-operating with the investigators,” Lutchmedial said in a statement.
On Monday, CAL said it was “working with industry authorities” into the incident that occurred last Saturday ..
The United States Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) has started its own probe and in a statement posted on its website, CAL said it is committed to the safety and security of all passengers.
“We are concerned to hear of an alleged incident highlighted on internet news sites regarding JetBlue 1295, and BW flight 526 on Saturday night (17th January) at JFK airport, New York.
“Caribbean Airlines takes allegations of this type very seriously, and is committed to working with the industry authorities to investigate all the facts. We are in the process of investigating and compiling the facts surrounding this allegation in cooperation with all Regulator agencies.”
CAL said in the interim, it is “complying with all incident management procedures included within its Safety Management System and adjunct regulations”.
The FAA said the planes never came within 2,800 feet of each other.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Richard Branson to Speak at Cayman Islands Alternative Investment Summit February 13 2015
Event to Explore the Rising Importance of Alternatives, Asset Allocation Trends and Models, Latest Innovations, and the Dynamics of Alpha Generation
The Cayman Alternative Investment Summit, an internationally recognized event bringing together the world’s leading institutional investors, will provide opportunities for attendees to learn from and network with global alternative investment leaders. The event takes place from 8:00 a.m. Thursday, February 12, to 6:30 p.m. Friday, February 13, at the Ritz-Carlton Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands.
Keynote addresses will include: Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger; Sir Richard Branson of the Virgin Group; Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics; John Maudlin, the New York Times best-selling author; and Lord Michael Hastings, Vice President of UNICEF UK.
For more information, please visit http://www.caymansummit.com/.
See also full iNews Cayman story on above at: http://www.ieyenews.com/wordpress/cayman-alternative-investment-summit-provides-global-leaders-with-forum-to-shape-guide-and-sustain-vibrant-alternatives-industry/
NJ POLICE: Mom charged with killing newborn by setting her on fire
From Eyewitness News NY
PEMBERTON TWP., N.J. — Authorities have charged a woman with killing her newborn daughter by setting the baby on fire in the middle of a road in Burlington County, New Jersey.
22-year-old Hyphernkemberly Dorvilier of Pemberton Township is charged with one count of murder. She is being held on $500,000 bail.
Officers were called to the unit block of Simontown Road around 11:00 p.m. Friday.
Dave Joseph and his family made the discovery.
They say they had no idea what was on fire outside of their home but saw Dorvilier standing in front of an SUV, behind the fire.
She allegedly told Joseph that she was burning dog waste she found in her SUV.
He told her to put it out.
“She grabbed a bottle of water, poured it on there, my wife was down there and said it was a baby,” said Joseph.
Horrified, Joseph and his wife called 911 and held Dorvilier until police arrived and she was taken into custody.
The baby was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children where she later died.
“It was a bad scene. And for a mother to do that its mind boggling. How anybody could do that to a baby? To a newborn?” said Joseph.
Investigators believe Dorvilier doused the newborn with accelerant then set her on fire.
On Saturday, neighbors felt compelled to stop by the scene. Many of them are parents themselves.
“That baby didn’t even have a chance to experience life,” said Robert Cannon.
“I have five grand kids. To see them this morning , I gave them all a hug,” said Vaon Warren.
Authorities say an autopsy will be performed by the Burlington County Medical Examiner.
The circumstances surrounding the child’s birth are also under investigation.
For more: http://7online.com/news/mom-charged-with-killing-newborn-by-setting-her-on-fire/479229/
Construction of 7-MW biogas plant in Caribbean to start in Q2
By Tsvetomira Tsanova From SeeNews Renewables
Jan 20, 2015 (SeeNews) – Construction is expected to commence in the second quarter of 2015 on a 7-MW biogas power plant in the US Virgin Islands, which will use as feedstock Viaspace Inc’s (OTCBB:VSPC) Giant King Grass.
The US bioenergy company said on Tuesday it partner in the project, Tibbar Energy USVI LLC, has assured it that the needed permits for the agriculture-and-power production project will be secured by February 2015.
In the autumn of 2012, Viaspace agreed to supply its proprietary energy crop for a plantation and an anaerobic digestion plant on the island of St Croix. Today, it announced that the Giant King Grass nurseries are ready to be transplanted to the new farms there. This will be the Caribbean’s first carbon neutral, base load, renewable power plant, noted Viaspace chairman Kevin Schewe.
Once up and running, the 7-MW power plant will sell its output to the USVI Water and Power Authority (WAPA) under a 25-year deal. The power purchase agreement’s term can be extended by five years.
Injunction issued by Cayman Islands Court against local media house
James Austin-Smith, a lawyer with the Cayman Islands law firm Campbells, has been granted a temporary injunction to bar publication and quotes from a letter pertaining to the Hassan Syed criminal case.
A newspaper story titled “Violation of rights could result in unfair trial” was published by The Cayman Reporter on January 16 2015. The story quotes from a letter said to be from an attorney representing Syed.
Syed was the former president of the University College of the Cayman Islands who is currently facing charges in Grand Court relating to theft, obtaining a pecuniary advantage and obtaining orders by deception.
Austin-Smith claims the Cayman Reporter story is professionally defamatory and falsely accuses him of committing criminal offenses.
Austin-Smith represented Syed in his criminal case but does not represent Syed legally now. He has said he will be carrying on with the lawsuit against the Cayman Reporter over the story and according to the brief writ, the attorney seeks damages for libel and a permanent injunction against the publication of the story.
Austin-Smith said he was never contacted for comment prior to the story appearing in the Cayman Reporter and when he asked the publication to remove the story from its website, it did not immediately do so.
Quotable Caribbean: Claret M. Connor, Moses Kirkconnell, Katherine Graham and more…
By Bevan Springer, Marketplace Excellence Corporation From The Bahamas Weekly
“The accomplishments of any country, including St. Maarten, are greatly contingent on the success of its human capital. As a son of the soil, my fervor to seek political office stems neither from egotism or self-conceit, but simply from the profound desire to be of unconditional service to my country.” – Claret M. Connor, Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunications, St. Maarten
“Throughout 2014 our islands consistently registered record-breaking arrivals and projections for the winter season anticipate a continuation of this upward trend. Consequently, the transformation of ORIA (Owen Roberts International Airport) into a modern facility that can deliver a higher level of service, efficiency and comfort to the travelling public remains a top priority.” – Moses Kirkconnell, Minister of Tourism, Cayman Islands
“The supposed bonanza of Cuba travel from airports around the country is mostly hype.” – Michael Boyd, President, Boyd Group International (The Dallas Morning News)
“Some questions don’t have answers, which is a terribly difficult lesson to learn.” – Katharine Graham, American Publisher
“The difference between something good and something great is attention to detail.” – Charles R. Swindoll, Senior Pastor, Stonebriar Community Church, Frisco, Texas
“The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement
“I know and care deeply about the difference which opportunity and diversity make to the quality of what we can produce together. It is an honor and a blessing to work on leveraging the power of diversity every day.” – Trinidadian Maxine Williams, Global Director of Diversity at Facebook (USA Today)
CLIA picks Royal Caribbean’s Adam Goldstein as spokesman during transition to new chief
By Arlene Satchell From Sun Sentinel
Trade group Cruise Lines International Association has announced a transition plan for the organization after the departure of Christine Duffy as president and CEO on Jan. 31.
Duffy is leaving CLIA to become president of Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines, effective Feb. 1.
In the interim, as the organization conducts a search for a new chief, Global CLIA Chairman Adam M. Goldstein, president and COO of Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., will serve as its official spokesman.
Cindy D’Aoust, CLIA’s executive vice president of membership and operations, will assume and oversee the management of U.S. operations and the leadership teams in the Washington, D.C., and Fort Lauderdale offices.
The cruise organization also said it has retained executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles to spearhead the search for a new president and CEO.
In December CLIA announced plans to close offices in Fort Lauderdale and Arlington, Va. in early 2015, as it consolidates its US operations into a single location in Washington, D.C.
The Fort Lauderdale office, which supports travel agent members and executive partners, is expected to close by spring.
For more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/tourism/fl-clia-transition-plans-20150120-story.html
Guyana to take part in inaugural US -Caribbean Energy Security Summit
From Stabroek Editor
Guyana will participate in the first ever Caribbean Energy Security Summit in Washington, DC on January 26, 2015, GINA said today.
It is to be hosted by US Vice President Joseph Biden. GINA said that Guyana will be represented by Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister with responsibility for Energy and Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud.
The U.S Vice President will meet with a delegation of CARICOM leaders and representatives of the international community to promote a cleaner and more sustainable energy future in the Caribbean.
The Summit will include remarks by the Vice President and an energy security roundtable with heads of government, GINA said.
The Summit is a key component of the Caribbean Energy Security Initiative that Biden unveiled in June 2014, during a visit to Trinidad and Tobago.
Florida woman pays $164,000 a year to live on luxury cruise ship
By WFLA.com web staff
An elderly Florida woman pays as much to live on a luxury cruise ship in one year, as some people pay to buy a home.
Lee Wachtstetter, 86, pays $164,000 per year to live aboard the Crystal Serenity cruise ship, according a report in the Asbury Park Press.
Wachtstetter is known as “Mama Lee” on the cruise ship that she has lived on for the last six years.
After her husband died, Wachtstetter and decided to live on the cruise ship, so she sold her Fort Lauderdale home on five acres.
She says she and her husband Mason took many cruises.
“Mason was a banker and real estate appraiser and taught me to love cruising. During our 50-year marriage we did 89 cruises. I’ve done nearly a hundred more and 15 world cruises,” she told the Asbury Park Press.
Wachtstetter lives in a stateroom on the seventh deck. The estimated $164,000 fee covers her room, restaurant meals and beverages, gratuities and nightly ballroom dancing, movies, lectures and other daily scheduled activities.
“I dance every night for a couple hours after dinner, have been doing it for years. And I’ve also trained with the ship’s dance instructors,” she said.
The Crystal Serenity is currently cruising around the world. The ship left the Port of Miami on Jan. 15 and is scheduled to return on May 4.
For more: http://www.wfla.com/story/27894169/florida-woman-pays-164000-a-year-to-live-on-luxury-cruise-ship
Plane evacuated at JFK after bomb threat called in
From CBS News
NEW YORK – An alleged bomb threat at JFK Airport spurred a large police response Monday evening.
CBS New York reported alarms went off inside the airport, signifying a security alert around 8:15 p.m., EDT. Officials said somone had phoned in a bomb threat to a Delta Airlines flight landing at JFK, which had come in from San Francisco.
Delta reported that another airline received the threat regarding Delta 468. The flight number belongs to two flights – one from San Francisco to JFK, which was the landing flight that prompted the emergency response, and another from JFK to Tel Aviv that was in the boarding process late Monday.
All of the passengers were taken off of the aircraft and the plane was removed to a remote section of the airport.
Investigators boarded the plane along with bomb sniffing dogs and equipment to determine if the bomb threat was credible.
Port Authority spokesman Joe Pentangelo says the Boeing 757 was evacuated and taken to a remote part of the runway where it was swept and found to have no explosives. No injuries were reported.
The incident comes just a day after two commercial airliners nearly collided at JFK. The near-miss happened when a Caribbean Airlines flight crossed in front of a fully-loaded JetBlue flight that was going near full-speed for takeoff.
For more: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/plane-evacuated-at-jfk-after-bomb-threat-called-in/
Caribbean Court of Justice marks 10-year anniversary
From Fox news Latino
The Caribbean Court of Justice on Tuesday commemorated its 10th year as a regional institution.
“The CCJ has come a long way over those 10 years. As compared to the solitary case that was filed and heard in 2005, last year the Court delivered 21 judgments, six of which were from Barbados, four from Belize and eleven from Guyana. Twenty-six matters were filed in 2014,” Judge Adrian Saunders said in a statement.
“The judges and administrative staff of the Court are extremely proud that for the last decade we have been afforded the opportunity to serve the region in implementing the historic mandate of the Court,” he added.
Twelve of the 15 Caribbean Community member-states are signatories of the CCJ: Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago.
All 12 use the CCJ as a court of Original Jurisdiction for interpretation and application of the treaty establishing CARICOM, but several do not employ the CCJ as the court of final appeal in civil and criminal cases. EFE
For more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2015/01/20/caribbean-court-justice-marks-10-year-anniversary/
Transoceanic Visual Exchange
Transoceanic Visual Exchange (TVE) seeks recent artists’ films and videos to be included in an exchange between Fresh Milk (Barbados), RM (Auckland), and Van Lagos (Nigeria) that will take place in June 2015.
CFP deadline: 16 February 2015
Working between the Caribbean, Africa, and Polynesia, TVE aims to negotiate the in-between space of our cultural communities outside of traditional geo-political zones of encounter and trade.
Submissions:
Must be work from artists practicing in the Caribbean, Africa or Polynesia.
Must be work that has been completed/made in the last five years.
Can be films of any length (shorts, experimental, features and video artworks)
Can be in any language (films originally produced in regional languages are welcome) with English subtitles.
Multiple submissions are welcome
Must be accompanied by a description of the work (500 words max), a bio (200 words max) and detail of any technical requirements i.e. audio, installation, equipment required, preferred setting etc.
Works must be in the form of mp4 files no larger than 10MB, or private Vimeo / Youtube links
Please send submissions and enquiries to the region in which you are practicing:
Caribbean: [email protected]
Polynesia: [email protected]
Africa: [email protected] / [email protected]
For more details, please see the included poster and the original CFP.
SOURCE: http://caribbean.commons.gc.cuny.edu/2015/01/19/transoceanic-visual-exchange/
Costa Rica’s Solís announces 75 development projects for the Caribbean province of Limón
By Zach Dyer From The Tico Times
President Luis Guillermo Solís signed an executive order Tuesday establishing a committee to coordinate 75 development projects and initiatives ranging from sewers to job training for the country’s depressed Caribbean region. The president also named writer and intellectual Quince Duncan head of the Commission on Afro-Descendent Affairs during his weekly press conference at Casa Presidencial.
The coordinating body, the Regional Commission for the Development of Limón Provence (CORDES-PROLI), will oversee the progress of these 75 projects outlined in the 2015-2018 National Development Plan and make quarterly reports on their finances and progress to Casa Presidencial before an annual report.
The development projects include water and port infrastructure, job training for 5,387 at-risk youth, temporary employment for more than 5,000 people, and improvements to public services, among others.
Gilbert Brown, CORDES-PROLI chief, said the commission puts Limonenses in the driver’s seat for projects targeting a region that has struggled with unemployment and drug-linked violence.
“If this fails, we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves, the Limonenses,” Brown said.
President Solís, speaking in English, addressed the black Anglophone community in Limón regarding Duncan’s nomination: “You have a representative who will be dedicated to taking care of the agenda that for so long you have desired. … This is the way in which we, in part, take care of the neglect that for many years characterized the way in which the government of Costa Rica related with the Afro-descendents of our country.”
Duncan said that the commission’s formation was a dream come true from many years ago: “This is the opportunity to actively participate and achieve the dreams that we have dreamed.”
UWI students block entry to campus ..protests over refusal by lecturers to hand out grades
From Trinidad Express Newspapers
Students of the University of the West Indies this morning locked down the St Augustine Campus.
At around 4a.m. students formed human chains at the north and south entrances, promising not to let anyone onto the compound until their grades were released.
Grades are being withheld by lecturers who are protesting the failure by the UWI to pay outstanding money.
Last July, the West Indies Group of University Teachers (WIGUT) signed an agreement for a six per cent increase in wages.
They received their new wages but failed to receive their back pay.
The protest ended before noon, but students have promises to resume if the issue is not resolved.
For more: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/UWI-students-chain-gates-to-campus-289293441.html
Grenada police launch investigation into posting of sexual explicit photos
By Linda Straker From Now Grenada
Police in the eastern parish of St Andrew have confirmed that an investigation has started into the illegal posting of personal pornographic type photos online of a number of young Grenadian women some of whom are students.
The photos first surfaced online via the social media site Facebook; they were soon removed after persons reported that the photos violated the terms and conditions the site. However, some people had already captured and saved the photos and shared them using email lists and other social media app such as WhatsApp.
It is understood that a number of young ladies have filed complaints to the Police in St Andrew and this has prompted the Criminal Investigation Department to commence the investigations, to determine how the photos were obtained and then posted on social media.
“These photos were private and never shared with anyone. My only recollection of it becoming exposed was when I took the phone to a repair shop. I was having problems with the phone, so I took it to this repair shop and left it there for repairs, so that is how I believe the photos were downloaded from my phone and uploaded,” said one young lady who is affected by the exposure.
“I never shared it with anyone. I never gave it to anyone, but it ended up on Facebook and this other site featuring Grenadian ladies, so I want to know how it got there,” she added.
The photos not only feature students who are not yet of the age of sexual consent, from prestigious secondary schools, but also young women throughout the island, some of whom are employed.
According to someone close to the investigation, the photos first appeared on a
pornographic website which has a page featuring ladies from a few other Caribbean islands. The server is based in the US. One photo on the Grenada page received more than 1,700 views, while some of the comments were describing the ability of girls from the different parish. “Victoria chicks are the craziest. you just gotta love them” said one comment, while another said “Every single one of them pure Grenadian sweetness.”
For more: http://nowgrenada.com/2015/01/police-launch-investigation-posting-sexual-explicit-photos/
Nearly 13,000 birds culled to curb avian flu outbreak
By Sean Lin From Taipei Times
Local authorities have finished carrying out poultry exterminations at six farms confirmed to have been struck by avian influenza subtypes H5N2 and H5N8, with about 12,945 geese and ducks culled in total, the Council of Agriculture said yesterday, ordering farms nationwide to suspend butchering waterfowls until noon tomorrow.
The transportation of poultry is also being halted, while all the vehicles, cages and containers used at butcheries and poultry farms are to be thoroughly disinfected, Bureau of Animal and Plant Health Inspection and Quarantine Director-General Chang Su-san said at a news conference in Taipei.
Chang said that originally, about 8,500 geese and 7,000 layer ducks had been targeted for extermination, but more than 3,000 geese died from H5N2 infections before the cull began.
Meanwhile, the bureau said that as of noon yesterday, it had received reports of suspected virus-induced poultry deaths from 14 additional facilities, including a goose farm in Changhua County. The Changua case put the total number of regions thought to be affected to five, including Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties, as well as Greater Tainan.
Chang said the avian influenza outbreaks have so far only affected waterfowl, with geese accounting for the vast majority of casualties.
“Few fatalities have been reported among ducks. The effect H5N2 has on ducks is that it greatly reduces their egg yields, to virtually zero,” she said.
Chang reiterated that both the H5N2 and H5N8 strains are new to the nation — the former being a “restructured” version of the H5N2 subtype previously found in Taiwan and bearing the genome sequences of both H5N2 and H5N8, while the H5N8 strain was likely transmitted from South Korea by migratory birds, the major means of transmission for avian flu.
For more: http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2015/01/13/2003609114
