iNews Briefs
Belize beat Caymans Islands but only on away goal
Belize needed a goal from Elroy Kuylen on a free kick to defeat the Cayman Islands, which came into the series ranked 205th out of 209 teams in the world.
First half (0-0),
Second half Cayman Islands 1 : 1 Belize *
agg. (1-1).
10′ Ebanks J. 1 – 0
15′ Ruiz A. 1 – 1
March 25 in Belmopan
Belize 0 Cayman Islands 0
March 29 in George Town
Cayman Islands 1 Belize 1
(Aggregate: 1-1; Belize wins on away goal.)
Polish priest abused boys in Dominican Republic gets 7 years in jail
EFE From Dominican Today
Warsaw.- A court in Wolomin, Poland on Wednesday sentenced former priest Wojciech Gil to seven years in prison and fined 40,000 euros for abusing two children in Poland. He also faces charges of abusing six boys in Dominican Republic, EFE reports.
The ruling also bans Gil from contacting the victims and from working with young people for a period of 15 years.
In the first hearing on March 20 Gil’s defense plea bargained for a 7-year sentence, half the maximum penalty for a child abuse conviction and possession of child pornography.
The priest was also indicted on charges of molesting at least 7 seven between 2009 and 2013 during his tenure as parish priest in the town of Juncalito, in Dominican Republic’s highlands.
In addition to Gil the also Polish national, bishop Jozef Wesolowski was arrested and defrocked last year, charged with child abuse during his tenure as Vatican Envoy to Dominican Republic.
Suriname denies nationals supporting ISIS
From Jamaica Observer
PARAMARIBO, Suriname (CMC) – The Director of the Bureau for National Security (BNV), Melvin Linscheer, has denied reports that Surinamese nationals are among Caribbean people fighting in support of the militant group Islamic State (IS).
“There is absolutely no reason for panic. The threat of terrorism in our country remains low,” said Linscheer.
Earlier this month, a top United States military general said the militant group could infiltrate the US through the Caribbean and South America.
Marine General John F Kelly, chief of the Miami-based US Southern Command, known as SOUTHCOM, told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that about 100 people have joined the militant group from the region.
Kelly said that while the number of fighters coming from the region is relatively small, Caribbean and other countries don’t have the capability to monitor those returning.
He said foreign fighters have gone to Syria from Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean, and Suriname and Venezuela in South America.
But in an interview with the De Ware Tijd daily newspaper, Linscheer said it was “regrettable” that Kelly had made the statement.
Linscheer, a former Suriname army colonel said that no one from Suriname has left the country to join IS training camps in the Middle East.
“As far as we know there are no Surinamers there,” he said, adding if it did happen he would expect the authorities that are aware of it to inform Suriname security officials.
Linscheer said it could be that people who have Surinamese roots but hold Dutch passports and who live in the Netherlands travelled to IS training camps in Syria and Iraq.
“That is a problem that concerns the Netherlands, not us,” he said, noting that the Desi Bouterse Government has focused heavily on anti-terrorism in recent years, establishing his department, as well as the counter terrorism and terrorism prevention units.
Earlier this week, the St. Lucia Government said none of its nationals were fighters in Syria.
“St Lucia’s image has in no way been compromised because no St Lucian is involved,” Foreign Affairs Minister Alva Baptiste told reporters.
For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/latestnews/Suriname-denies-nationals-supporting-ISIS
BELIZE: Akeem Thurton’s attempted murder conviction affirmed
From 7News Belize
22 year-old Akeem Thurton, the man who was convicted in the first trial without jury of shooting and almost killing attorney Rodwell Williams, got bad news today: his conviction was affirmed by the Court of Appeal.Viewers may remember that his appeal was heard exactly a week ago. At that session, Jamaican American Human
Rights lawyer Nancy Mae Anderson worked with local attorney Bryan Neal to prepare a 20 ground appeal on Thurton’s behalf.
After deliberating, the panel of judges delivered its decision today that his appeal was dismissed, but they decided that a small amount of time needed to be subtracted from the sentence that the Chief Justice handed him in 2012.
That’s not the outcome Thurton’s family or his attorneys were hoping for. They were hoping that the court would overturn the conviction and set him free.
For more: http://www.7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=32020
Sixty-two yachts to race in 42nd regatta
By Carol Bareuther (special to The Daily News) From Virgin Islands Daily news
ST. THOMAS – Sixty-two yachts from the Caribbean, U.S. and Europe cast off today in the 42nd St. Thomas International Regatta.
Up for grabs is the prestigious prize of a TAG Heuer Aquaracer Caribbean Limited Edition watch awarded to the skippers of the yachts that win each of the regatta’s eight classes.
Two of the STIR’s eight classes – the one-design Melges 32s and IC-24s – are forecast to be among the most competitive and most exciting.
A record 20 IC-24s are racing, with teams from the USVI, British Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. The IC-24 is a locally-modified version of a J/24.
In other classes, CSA 1 will be a two-horse race between Spookie, a Carkeek HP 40 sailed by Heidi and Steve Benjamin of Norwalk, Conn., and Conviction, a TP 52 owned and driven by Clint Brooks and his team from Barbados.
The CSA 2 class features everything from a pair of J/122s to New York Gosia Rojek’s Swan 42, Better Than⦠and Antigua’s Bernie Evan-Wong’s Reichel-Pugh 37, TAZ. Evan-Wong is one to watch as he has numerous podium finishes.
Caribbean and visitors make up the CSA 3 class including Paul Davis of St. Thomas on his J/27, Mag 7.
The CSA Non-Spinnaker Class hosts a couple teams that come with fun stories. One is a group of students from St. Croix’s Central High School sailing with teacher Stan Joines. Fellow Crucian sailor, Tony Sanpere, will helm his Catalina 30, Nauticayenne, with a team that makes up the V.I. entry to the Paralympic Olympic Games.
Finally, there’s a first-time unrated class and for the first-time in several years, a nine boat beach cat class.
The racing starts at 11 a.m. today with the course set to Charlotte Amalie harbor. On Saturday, racing is off the southeast side of St. Thomas. Racing concludes on Sunday.
For more: http://virginislandsdailynews.com/sports/sixty-two-yachts-to-race-in-42nd-regatta-1.1854539
Hillary Clinton deleted all email from personal server
By Chris Frates, CNN
(CNN) Hillary Clinton permanently deleted all the emails on the private server she used to do official business as secretary of state, the Republican lawmaker who subpoenaed the emails said late Friday.
Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, chairman of the House committee investigating the attacks on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, said Clinton’s lawyer informed him of the news.
“Secretary Clinton unilaterally decided to wipe her server clean and permanently delete all emails from her personal server,” Gowdy said in a statement.
Gowdy had also asked that Clinton turn over her server to the State Department inspector general for an independent review.
Clinton’s lawyer, David Kendall, said no.
In his letter to Gowdy, Kendall said the former secretary of state “chose not to keep her non-record personal emails.”
“Thus, there are no … e-mails from Secretary Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state on the server for any review, even if such review were appropriate or legally authorized,” he wrote.
But she “has maintained and preserved copies” of work-related, or potentially work-related emails she turned over to the State Department late last year. Kendall did not specify whether the emails were kept in paper or digital form.
For more: http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/27/politics/hillary-clinton-personal-email-server/
The co-pilot of Germanwings flight 9525 reportedly told his former girlfriend he wanted everyone to know his name
By Natasha Bertrand From Business Insider
The co-pilot of the downed Germanwings Airbus 320 who authorities believe intentionally crashed the plane told his former girlfriend that he wanted to do something to “change the system,” German newspaper Bild has reported.
27-year-old German national Andreas Lubitz — described by people close to him on Thursday as a “rather quiet,” “polite,” and “fun” young man — reportedly told his ex-girlfriend that he was disillusioned with his career at Germanwings.
“He understood that because of his health problems, his big dream of a job at Lufthansa as captain and as a long-haul pilot was practically impossible,” his ex, a 26-year-old flight attendant identified only as Maria W., told Bild.
She also told Bild that he told her, “One day I will do something that will change the whole system, and then all will know my name and remember it.”
Revelations about Lubitz’s battle with depression and a “mental illness” — which he allegedly hid from his employers — came as investigators searched his home for clues about what his motivation could have been for deliberately crashing the plane.
A note found in Lubitz’s trash said he was “was declared by a medical doctor unfit to work,” Dusseldorf prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said Friday, according to CNN.
A look inside Transcriptic’s new biotech testing facility
By Sarah Buhr From Techcrunch
Transcriptic, the cloud-based biotech lab that tests for experimental drugs automation and robotics, has become a key platform for many biotech companies in Silicon Valley.
The platform has been particularly useful for many of the biotech companies now coming out of Y Combinator. These startups don’t have the deep pockets of big pharma and need a low-cost solution that produces rapid results. Transcriptic has offered a $20,000 credit to Notable Labs, AtomWise and other YC-backed startups to help spark the drug discovery market within the valley.
It takes an average of 12 years and billions of dollars to get a new drug on the market. According to Transcriptic, its services enable scientists to work remotely with a wide swath of data and automated equipment that can produce low-cost results in days. While there’s a lot more to getting a drug on the market, this could greatly reduce the time and cost involved in getting life-saving drugs to market faster.
There are other robotic lab testing facilities in the works, such as Emerald Cloud Laboratory. Unlike other facilities, Transcriptic builds its own robots and customized code rather than bringing in more expensive and traditional automated equipment. This further cuts down on cost and allows the lab to scale quickly.
Transcriptic recently moved into a new 22,000 square-foot facility in Menlo Park, California. This gives it a bit more room to grow and the ability to introduce additional services. We caught up with founder Max Hodak to check out the new space.
Diarrhoea killing India’s poorest children
From BBC
Diarrhoea kills more than half a million children every year – with Pakistan, Nigeria and India having the highest death rates.
All three countries are being targeted by the charity Save the Children as they work with governments and communities to tackle the disease.
For more and video: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-32081745
Jah-Shawn aims to top the ‘game’ [after living in Cayman Islands]
By Howard Campbell From Jamaica Observer
After seven years living and working the Cayman Islands’ tiny dancehall scene, deejay Jah-Shawn is determined to make a mark in Jamaica.
The Seaview-reared artiste returned home four years ago and has been recording steadily for different producers.
Top a wi Game with singjay Jahvinci and Mi Money Nuff are his latest crack at the local breakthrough.
“Wi jus’ a concentrate pon put out some good tune ’cause wi really waan do good a yard,” said Jah-Shawn.
Though he has been recording since he was 12 years old, most of his success has come in Cayman where he recorded for local producers and performed on shows like the Cayman Jazz and Blues Festival.
While he kept busy in Cayman, the 30-year-old entertainer said the going is slow there for reggae artistes.
“Dem love reggae an’ dancehall bad but the marketing not there. The people love the music but dem not going go out an’ buy it,” he told the Observer.
Jah-Shawn (Andre Cousins) grew up in a community that produced a number of dancehall heavyweights, including Shabba Ranks and Bounty Killer.
His biggest influence, however, was his uncle, a little-known deejay named Mr P who is from Bog Walk in St Catherine.
Money wey wi Want and Gideon Bus Now are among his previous songs.
For more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/entertainment/Jah-Shawn-aims–to-top-the–game–_18667956
Wave Season Update: Caribbean and Alaska going strong
By Susan Young From Travel Agent Central
Carnival Cruise Lines’ booking volumes and pricing are up. Above, guests on Carnival Breeze relax on deck during the sailaway party. // Photo by Susan J. Young
After Carnival Corp. reported higher than expected earnings last week and held its conference call with financial analysts, Robin Farley, a cruide industry analyst, UBS Investment Research, provided this guidance to investors. It may prove of interest to agents as well.
Booking volumes in the current Wave Season are strong across the multiple Carnival Corp. brands, including the Carnival Cruise Lines brand.
Cumulative bookings for the Carnival Corp. brands for the second quarter 2015 through the fourth quarter 2015 are ahead of where they were at the same time last year. … and with higher pricing.
Caribbean bookings are expected to be positive for rest of the year. Alaska bookings are very strong.
Alaska bookings for 2015 are very strong and the region is ahead in price and occupancy for Carnival Corp.’s North American brands. // Photo of downtown Ketchikan, AK, by Susan J. Young
The Caribbean and Alaska are also ahead in both price and occupancy for the remainder of 2015 (for Carnival’s North American brands).
Carnival noted double-digit growth in Costa Cruises’ Asian itineraries.
European itineraries are also ahead in price and occupancy.
While booking volumes for Europe are down year-over-year (as anticipated by Carnival Corp.), less volume has been needed to drive occupancy. European bookings are coming in at higher prices.
Based on Carnival Corp.’s positive commentary about the Caribbean, Farley says the “read through” is positive for operations of competitors Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.
For more: http://www.travelagentcentral.com/cruises/wave-season-update-caribbean-and-alaska-going-strong-50734
New studies lend insight into the performance of Caribbean MPAs
From Department of Marine Affairs University of Rhode Island
URI collaborators Tracey Dalton (MAF), Graham Forrester (NRS) and Richard Pollnac (MAF) led a rapid assessment of thirty-one marine protected areas (MPAs) and their associated human communities in the wider Caribbean and present their findings in two recent journal articles.
One article examines how MPAs in the wider Caribbean are making progress toward their social (or human-oriented) and ecological objectives. Findings show that Caribbean MPAs have many objectives related to both social and ecological conditions and that most MPAs are making at least some progress towards achieving these objectives. Where MPAs are not meeting their objectives, the authors recommend that planners and managers consider reallocating human and financial resources to address deficiencies and re-evaluate existing goals and objectives. The article “Are Caribbean MPAs making progress toward their goals and objectives?” is published in the Marine Policy Journal and the abstract is available at www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X14003467.
Another study investigates causal relationships between characteristics of a MPA & its associated communities, user compliance with MPA rules, and ecological performance of marine protected areas (MPAs). Findings show that active management, in the form of formal monitoring, surveillance, and the collection of tourist access fees, and enforced punishments are strong drivers of compliance with MPA rules in the Caribbean. Results also indicate that these drivers of compliance are themselves influenced by factors related to the MPA and its associated communities, including the level of socioeconomic development in the communities and whether the MPA is part of a political network like the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System or a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The article “Investigating causal pathways linking site-level characteristics, compliance and ecological performance in Caribbean MPAs” will be published in the May 2015 issue of the Journal of Coastal Management (http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ucmg20).
Please contact Dr. Tracey Dalton at [email protected] if you have any questions or comments about these studies.
IMAGE: MPAs
For more: http://web.uri.edu/maf/new-studies-lend-insight-into-the-performance-of-caribbean-mpas/
