iNews Briefs
Detention for criminal suspects reduced in Cayman Islands
According to the Police (Amendment) Law, 2014, a police custody officer can only authorise the detention of a person without criminal charges for up to 48 hours from the time of the arrest.
The police custody officer cannot be directly involved in the criminal investigation that led to the arrest.
Cayman Islands Governor, Helen Kilpatrick, ordered a commencement date of April 1 for amendments to the Police Law to take affect. The Legislative Assembly approved the law earlier this year.
Shark drags kayaker eight miles
From Caribbean360
An 11-foot hammerhead shark took a South Florida student for a wild two-hour ride, excerpts of which were posted on YouTube.
FLORIDA, United States, Wednesday April 2, 2014 – American college student Adam Fisk got a lot more than he bargained for when he set out on a routine weekend fishing trip, cruising off the South Florida shore in a red kayak, with a camera mounted on an elastic strap around his head and several fishing poles aboard.
Shortly after the Florida Atlantic University senior bagged a 15-pound mackerel, the pole beside him suddenly jerked forward and the kayak took off like a jet.
It was then that the 22-year-old saw the source of his rapid propulsion: an 11-foot hammerhead shark. He grabbed the pole and braced himself for a long, if a little nerve wracking, ride.
Determined to capture the action on camera, but concerned about battery capacity, he only managed to shoot a little more than 6 minutes of his wild ride, during which the shark dragged his kayak for 8 miles.
“I figured if my line was holding up I would get the best video I could, just to show my friends,” Fisk told the Tampa Bay Times. “I never thought I would get this far.”
On a couple of occasions Fisk dipped his camera in the water, and his video clip captured the massive shark, which was only four or five feet from the kayak, although the lens made it appear to be further away.
The only time Fisk worried was when all the tension went out of the line.
“I was nervous whenever the line went slack,” he said. “I figured it was coming straight for me.”
The hammerhead took the kayak all the way to Lake Worth, a 15-minute drive north on Interstate 95, before Fisk cut the line and the big shark swam away.
Fisk, a criminal justice student, hopes for a career as an officer with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
For more and to see video go: http://www.caribbean360.com/index.php/news/1107393.html?utm_source=Caribbean360+Newsletters&utm_campaign=f3cbfadd7e-Vol_9_Issue_066_News4_2_2014&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_350247989a-f3cbfadd7e-39393477#ixzz2xkQxYqGt
It’s Paris for Haines in bid to raise $1M for Cayman Islands Hospice
Paris is the venue for veteran runner Derek Haines (65) first marathon of six he intends to run to try and raise $1 million to build a new facility for Cayman HospiceCare.
The race is on Sunday and is 26.2 miles long.
Next week he will be in London to compete in their marathon.
All proceeds will go to the HospiceCare project as Haines is paying all of his own expenses.
A volunteer committee will join Haines comprising:
Chris Johnson (trainer and treasurer), Brian Hurley (president-elect of the Rotary Club), Lucy Macfadyen (incoming secretary), Rotarian Rob Jamieson, Rotarian Gary Benham (Governor’s Office) and Chris Duggan (chairman of Cayman HospiceCare).
Trainer, Chris Johnson?!!!!
Qannas gets regulatory okay for Cayman Islands move
StockMarketWire.com – Qannas Investments Limited said requisite regulatory clearances for effecting its migration from Jersey to the Cayman Islands have now been received and it is now domiciled in the Cayman Islands.
Qannas expected the admission to trading on AIM of its entire issued ordinary share capital of 78,133,409 ordinary shares under its current ISIN and SEDOL would be cancelled at the end of trading on 3 April 2014.
With effect from 8.00 a.m. on 4 April 2014, the entire issued share capital of the Company will trade under the ISIN and SEDOL numbers set out below. The Company’s existing QIL.L ticker will be unchanged.
Jimmy Cliff adds his voice to reparations call
From Caribbean360
LONDON, England, Wednesday April 2, 2014 – Jamaican reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has added his voice to the call for reparations from European countries that participated in the Trans-Atlantic slave trade in the days when sugar was king and the plantocracy reaped the sweets.
Cliff made his case in an interview with Britain’s Evening Standard newspaper while in London to appear at A Night of Reggae at the Roundhouse, hosted by Save the Children chairman Alan Parker and award-winning actress Helena Bonham Carter.
The 65-year-old singer’s observations came in the wake of a commitment by Caribbean governments to seek redress from eight European states — Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark — that had brought Africans to the West Indies to labour on sugar plantations.
Cliff, whose enduring hit Many Rivers to Cross is said to be partly inspired by slavery, told The Londoner that he supports the calls for reparations to Caribbean countries from Britain and other European nations.
The vintage musician pointed out that the idea of reparations was “one of the foundations of Rasta.”
“You know, you have all these bredren, they were saying, ‘Look, the Queen is supposed to pay us back.’ There were lots of them who were very serious about it too and they have a logical point to prove.
“But look, the Jews have always highlighted what has happened, their plight, what has happened to them, and also say, ‘Ok, you did that, you’re supposed to pay us something back.’ So why not other people, like my ancestors? I think it’s a fair deal,” he was quoted as saying.
Cliff was reportedly on the UK leg of a world tour, and is said to be working as an advisor on a sequel to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come, in which he starred as the ill-fated “rudeboy” Ivanhoe Martin.
New list of duties in Cayman will now include churches and schools
The list of dutiable items (the list now takes up more than 200 pages) with almost 5,000 different items under a new classification system put into effect by the Cayman Islands Customs Department.
The Customs Tariff Law came into force on March 1st this year and construction materials for schools and churches, previously duty-free under the old Customs Tariff Law, will now be charged duty along with certain equipment for schools.
However, it is a real mixed bag as some of the changes mean importers will pay less or nothing for items that were previously dutiable.
Other items will require duty where none existed before, or will require higher rates than before and even “unsolicited” gifts not exceeding $50 in value that could previously be picked up free at the post office will be charged duty as well.
That one makes hardly any sense as the amount collected hardly pays for the cost of collecting the duty fee!
To try and stop Cayman going green windmills will carry duty along with human organs and body parts.
Although most books will be duty fee, if it is a professional reference book it will be charged 22%.
If the cost of living wasn’t already high here – it is now reaching sky high!
Cayman boxer’s next fight to be televised
Cayman boxer, Peter “Lightning” Lewison (26), who is unbeaten after six wins that include five knockouts, takes on another unbeaten prospect, Mike Lee, at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, USA on Friday (4) in a light-heavyweight bout.
The fight, promoted by Main Events, will be televised on NBC Sports.
Free health screening in Cayman Islands for World Health Day
In observation of World Health Day on April 7, the Cayman Islands Health Services Authority is offering free health screenings (blood pressure and blood sugar) at all the District Health Centres, George Town General Practice, Faith Hospital, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman during the period April 7-11 from 9am – 1pm.
Dr. Kiran Kumar, Medical Officer of Health, says the free health screenings are part of the key strategies of the Public Health Department to emphasize the benefits of healthy lifestyles and early detection of health issues such as hypertension (high blood pressure) and diabetes, which will enable appropriate treatment in preventing the complications.
No appointment is necessary during this week. Persons seeking testing need to indicate to the registration clerks that they would like to register for free blood pressure and blood glucose screening. The results are available right away and counselling and referral will be offered as deemed necessary.
For further information please contact Therese Prehay at the Public Health Department, 244-2632.
Cayman Islands new Court of Appeal Judge sworn in
Justice John Martin, QC has been sworn in by Cayman Islands Governor Helen Kilpatrick on Monday (31) at her office as new Judge of the British Overseas Territory’s Court of Appeal.
Martin has previously served as a Judge of the Court of Appeal in Guernsey and Jersey. He was appointed as one of three new Cayman Islands Court of Appeal judges.
He joins sitting Judges Justice Elliott Mottley and Justice Sir Anthony Campbell.
Court of Appeal President Sir John Chadwick, Chief Justice Anthony Smellie, QC and Registrar of the Court of Appeal Audrey Bodderi joined Martin and Kilpatrick at the ceremony.
Cayman ranked 31 in list of 35 clearest water destinations in world
The Cayman Islands has been ranked 31st out of 35 destinations by readers of the website ‘Daily News Dig’.
At the top of the list were Venezuela, Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia.
Daily News Dig was created in May 2011 by Chris Hughes who is currently the administrator and main writer for the site. The site was created to provide visitors with news and information on the latest movies, games and autos.
CNCF has a library open to all
The Cayman National Cultural Foundation (CNCF) has a reference library that is available to any student, poet, artist or author looking for information on Caribbean arts and culture, history and Cayman’s culture and history, among other topics. T
The CNCF has hundreds of books surrounding the topic of arts and culture and they are available for everybody to read.
They even have an audio and visual collection.
A.M. Best downgrades ratings of Risk Reinsurance Limited
HONG KONG — A.M. Best has downgraded the financial strength rating to A (Excellent) from A+ (Superior) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “a+” from “aa-” for Risk Reinsurance Limited (RRL) (Cayman Islands). The outlook for both ratings is stable. RRL is the single parent captive of Transpower New Zealand Limited (Transpower), the state-owned, sole operator of New Zealand’s electricity grid.
The rating actions consider the high event retentions relative to RRL’s capital target, which potentially could result in significant fluctuation of its risk-adjusted capitalization. Following a large dividend payment to Transpower in August 2013, RRL’s capital target has been set at NZD 50 million.
Positive rating factors include RRL’s excellent balance sheet strength and capital generation ability. The quality of Transpower’s risk management has benefitted RRL’s underwriting results since its inception and sustained its excellent capital generation ability so far.
Positive rating actions are unlikely at present. Negative rating actions could occur if RRL’s capital target is further reduced relative to its event retentions.
The methodology used in determining these interactive ratings is Best’s Credit Rating Methodology, which provides a comprehensive explanation of A.M. Best’s rating process and contains the different rating criteria employed in the rating process. Best’s Credit Rating Methodology can be found at www.ambest.com/ratings/methodology.
Ratings are communicated to rated entities prior to publication, and unless stated otherwise, the ratings were not amended subsequent to that communication.
This rating announcement has been issued by A.M. Best Asia-Pacific Limited, which is a subsidiary of A.M. Best Company. A.M. Best Company is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
