iNews Briefs, More & Community Events
Community Events
Department of Vehicle & Drivers’ Licensing
The Department of Vehicle & Drivers’ Licensing wishes to inform the public that both offices (West Bay & Crewe Road) will close on Wednesday, 19th August 2015 for a staff retreat.
Normal hours of operation will resume on Thursday, 20th August for the West Bay Office from 10am to 6:00 pm and the Crewe Road Office from 8:30am – 4pm.
The management and staff wish to apologize for any inconvenience this necessary closure will cause.
Annual Meals on Wheels Dress Down Day
SAVE THE DATE
Dress Down Day Friday, 20th November, 2015
Help feed our Seniors we believe no-one in Cayman should go hungry.
Individuals can help by purchasing an orange ribbon for $5.00 or a tee shirt for $15.00 and wearing them on Dress Down Day, we are encouraging companies to match employee donations.
For more information or to sign up to participate please feel free to contact us via email at [email protected] or via telephone at 949-3905.
CARE announces Cayman Islands 5th Annual Paws for wine
Sat Sept 26th Ristorante Pappagallo
THU AUG 13
National Gallery Summer Arts Drop Ins
The National Gallery of the Cayman Islands is thrilled to be hosting a Summer of Art, free programming that allows kids to utilise their creativity by participating in a range of imaginative activities. Drop-in sessions will take place in the National Gallery Education Centre every Thursday afternoon from 2:00 PM — 4:00 PM Each Summer Camp Drop-in session is different and gives kids ages 6 to 14 multiple opportunities to take part in a range of art-related activities including stenciling, creative group activities, painting, drawing and more.
Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s Summer Arts Camp
Register now thru Friday (3 Jul) for the Cayman National Cultural Foundation’s Summer Arts Camp program for children between the ages of 6 and 16. The program runs from 13 — 21 August from 9am until 3pm. Visit artscayman.org for more.
Cayman National Cultural Foundation Summer Arts Camp
The Cayman National Cultural Foundation is hosting a Summer Arts Camp from August 13 — 21st under the theme Founded Upon the Seas. For more information log on to artscayman.org/summer-arts-camp
District Youth Convention
The New Testament Church of God Youth and Discipleship Department is hosting its annual District Youth Convention under the theme In Christ Alone at 730pm nightly thru Thursday (13 Aug)
AGM of National Trust West Bay District Committee
The Annual General Meeting of the West Bay District Committee of the National Trust for the Cayman Islands is Thursday (13 Aug) at 630pm @ the John Gray Memorial Church Hall
FRI AUG 14
Liquor Licensing Renewal Deadline Is 14 August
Friday (14 Aug) is the renewal deadline for all liquor license holders, including those with music and dancing licenses. Renewal applicants may contact Liquor Licensing Board Secretary Marva Scott on 244-3168 for more information.
2015 Orientation Dates for Cayman Islands Government Schools
Released on behalf of the Education Ministry.
Wrong Richard Coles listed as defendant in Cayman Islands criminal case
Former Cayman Islands attorney general, former Human Rights Commission chairman and ex-Cayman Finance chairman Richard Haylock Coles was wrongly listed as a defendant in a criminal case due before the Summary Court last Monday (10).
A notice from Clerk of the Court Kevin McCormac stated Monday, “The Summary Court list for Magistrate [Kirsty Ann] Gunn’s court that was published on Friday incorrectly included the name of Richard Haylock Coles as a defendant. That was an error in the court system. The defendant is Richard T. Cole.”
Richard Haylock Coles has not been charged with any crime in the Cayman Islands and was not the defendant in the insulting the modesty of a woman case before the court on Monday.
No reason has been provided how the error came to be listed.
Cayman Islands Court agrees to 12-person jury for liquor store suspects
The trial of Randy Connor, Andrew Lopez and Bron Webb, who are charged with robbing Blackbeard’s liquor store at Grand Harbour of over $5,000 in local and US currency at gunpoint, as well as robbing a female customer of her purse containing cash, a driver’s license, a credit card and personal possessions, will be judged by a 12-person jury instead of the usual 7.
This was made at the request of the defendants.
The trial proceeds and is expected to last three weeks. It has been described as “complex”.
Trinidad police confirm report of death threat on Opposition Leader’s life
From CARIBBEAN360
IMAGE: NATIONAL SECURITY MINISTER BRIGADIER CARL ALFONSO
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday August 11, 2015 – Less than 24 hours after saying he knew nothing about a death threat against Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley, National Security Minister Brigadier Carl Alfonso has confirmed that police are investigating such a threat.
Local media reports today quoted Alfonso as saying that Deputy Commissioner of Police Glenn Hackett yesterday morning officially informed him that lawmen had received a report that Rowley’s life was in danger, and security for the People’s National Movement (PNM) leader had been beefed up as a result.
“I don’t know the source of the report, or who reported it to him, but he is dealing with it . . . So clearly, I must be concerned,” Alfonso said, declining to say anything more because of the ongoing investigation.
Speaking at a political meeting on Sunday, Rowley said government had hired people to kill him. Senior PNM member Faris Al-Rawi further alleged that a TT$15 million (US$2.3 million) hit had been put on Rowley.
Alfonso told the Trinidad Express on Sunday that he had not been informed of any threat on Rowley’s life.
“Maybe the Police Commissioner may have received that information and probably he has dealt with it, but it has not come any further. It has not come to any member of government, certainly not to my good self. If the Police Commissioner thinks it’s serious enough to inform me, he will,” the minister told the newspaper at the time.
Before Alfonso reported that he had been brought up to speed on this matter, Communications Minister Vasant Bharath had dismissed Rowley’s claims, charging that if the threat was real, it would have been reported to police.
“To make such allegations on a public platform is not only irresponsible and deliberately contrived to create panic, it is also a demonstration of using public platforms to incite the population rather than to articulate clear plans for the future,” he said in a statement.
Oxbridge Re declares regular quarterly cash dividend
GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited (NASDAQ:OXBR), a provider of reinsurance solutions to property and casualty insurers in the Gulf Coast region of the United States, has reported that its board of directors has declared a regular quarterly cash dividend in the amount of 12 cents per ordinary share. The dividend will be paid on September 30, 2015 to shareholders of record on the close of business September 7, 2015.
About Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited
Oxbridge (www.oxbridgere.com) is a Cayman Islands exempted company that was organized in April 2013 to provide reinsurance business solutions primarily to property and casualty insurers in the Gulf Coast region of the United States. Through Oxbridge’s licensed reinsurance subsidiary, Oxbridge Reinsurance Limited, it writes fully collateralized policies to cover property losses from specified catastrophes. Oxbridge specializes in underwriting medium frequency, high severity risks, where it believes sufficient data exists to analyze effectively the risk/return profile of reinsurance contracts. The company’s ordinary shares and warrants trade on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbols “OXBR” and “OXBRW,” and is included within the Russell Microcap Index.
Contacts
Company Contact:
Oxbridge Re Holdings Limited
Jay Madhu, 345-749-7570
CEO
Caribbean Bar Association 19th Annual Scholarship & Awards Banquet set for October 17
SOUTH FLORIDA – On Saturday, October 17, 2015 at 7:00 p.m., the Caribbean Bar Association (“CBA”) will celebrate its 19th Annual Scholarship and Awards Banquet at the Miami Marriot Biscayne Bay, 1633 North Bayshore Drive, Miami, FL 33132. The banquet is the CBA’s signature event which raises funds to sustain the Caribbean Bar Foundation and the CBA’s diverse philanthropic missions and outreach programs, including scholarships for judicial internships which are awarded to law students in Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
This year’s banquet will honor the achievements of outstanding individuals and institutions, whose contributions to Caribbean-American communities inspire cultural pride, leadership, and community activism in others. This year’s honorees include Babacar M’Bow, Director, Museum of Contemporary Art; Lisa Narcisse, Vice President, Branch Manager of PNC Bank; Embrace Music Foundation; and the Haitian Lawyers Association.
The theme for this year’s Banquet is “Celebrating Unity: Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers.” “The CBA enjoyed an exceptional year in 2015. We forged great partnerships with other minority bar associations and organized successful networking and educational programs for our respective memberships. We are particularly proud of the Judicial Diversity Initiative that our outgoing President, Annika Ashton, played an integral role in launching,” remarked incoming President Michelle Bell.
The banquet will be hosted by radio personality Keith “Papa Keith” Walcott of WMIB 103.5 The Beat and attorney and Past President Sherylle Francis. Guests will be treated to Caribbean-themed cuisine, exciting musical and cultural performances, raffle prizes and dancing with DJ Dorenzo Olivier throughout the night.
To purchase tickets or for sponsorship opportunities contact Sharaine Sibblies at [email protected] or 954-363-5754.
Cayman Islands Ministry supports Dot-KY domain names
The ongoing “Dot-ky Domain Name” offering by the Information & Communications Technology Authority (ICTA) was recently supported with a dress-down day by staff of the Ministry of Planning, Lands, Agriculture, Housing and Infrastructure (PLAHI).
The ICTA offers “.ky” domain names for CI$32.70 or US$39.88 for all Cayman Islands residents and entities. Worldwide entities may register for these domain names from September 2, 2015.
PLAHI Minister the Hon. Kurt Tibbetts applauded this new ICTA service, and encouraged residents to take advantage of the opportunity to own their own domain names.
For more information on owning your own Cayman domain name, or to access the electronic registration process, visit: http://www.icta.ky/
M&A Africa: Mauritius Fund Manager offers largest buy price for Kenyan Stockbroker
By Kevin Mwanza From AFK Insider
A Mauritian fund management firm Axis has offered to buy a majority stake in a Kenyan stockbroker Apex Africa Capital for about $4.7 million, the largest amount ever paid for any market intermediary in the East African nation.
According to a Business Daily report, detailed of the yet to be concluded deal were seen in an application to Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) seeking for approval to conclude the transaction in a few weeks time.
CAK allowed the deal to go ahead on ground that it was unlikely to affect competition. The deal is yet to receive a stamp of approval from the capital markets authority.
According to undisclosed sources familiar with the deal, Axis, which offer fund management, investment advisory and tax shelters in the Seychelles, Mauritius and Kenya, was attracted to Apex Africa due to its “strong corporate and high-net-worth individual clients.”
Axis will take over Apex Africa through its local unit Mauritius Kenya Investment Holding.
Before this investment the largest ever investment in any Kenyan stockbroker was in 2008 when Renaissance Capital paid about $2.5 million for a license to become a stockbroker at the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
Survey finds ‘emerging technologies’ most commonly cited factor of change for legal
By Chris DiMarco, Legaltech News
Robert Half survey discusses the currents, technological and otherwise, shaping the future of the law office.
Technology has been changing the way people work since the invention of the wheel, and even now, new tools and techniques can quickly redefine the tasks associated with a vocation. A recently-published survey is showing the extent to which technology is impacting the practice of law, and how lawyers and prospective lawyers are adapting to the shifting paradigms of the practice.
Published by recruiting firm Robert Half, “Future Law Office 2020” polled 350 lawyers from the largest firms and corporations in North America. The survey found that as the space continues to recover from recession era belt-tightening, technology and its ability to create synergy and efficiency is more important than ever.
When asked, “Which one of the following issues will have the biggest impact on the practice of law during the next five years?” the most frequently cited answer was emerging technologies, grabbing 34 percent of respondents. Corporate governance was the second-most frequently cited issue, with 19 percent, and cybersecurity and data privacy came in a close third at 18 percent.
With issues like these shaping the course of the legal world, unsurprisingly the relationship between IT and legal is also changing. No longer are the two merely connected by a service and support mentality, but increasingly through project partnerships that require a deeper foundation of engagement.
Eighty percent of the lawyers polled said that their collaboration with IT specialists has increased over the last two years. Not surprisingly, the projects most commonly cited as the impetus for this increase were related to e-discovery (44 percent), with data security (41 percent), compliance (33 percent) and social media/remote work arrangements (16 percent) rounding out the replies.
Frank Wu, managing director at Robert Half’s legal division, said in the report that “collaboration between the two teams is critical due to the inherent risks and impact involved in data systems as well as privacy, compliance and security considerations. Organizations with a traditional approach to managing legal and IT functions will likely be at a serious disadvantage in today’s global business and regulatory environment.”
Though technology played a central role in the discussion, the use of alternative fee arrangements and what sitting attorneys look for in new hires were also discussed in the survey. The full report is available here.
OAS Mission in Haiti: Elections marked a step forward
From Organization of American States
Despite some incidents
Port Au Prince —- The Mission of the Organization of American States (OAS) that observed the first round of legislative elections in Haiti on Sunday, August 9, highlighted that despite some incidents of violence, most polling stations were able to conclude their operations as planned, and characterized the holding of the elections as a step forward for Haitian democracy.
The Electoral Observation Mission (EOM) congratulated the Caribbean country on the holding of the elections that included the participation of the vast majority of political forces in the country. The Mission recommended holding a civic education campaign to increase citizen participation in the elections.
In a preliminary report, the Chief of the Observation Mission, Enrique Castillo, welcomed the determination of the Provisional Electoral Council to continue with the next steps in the electoral process. The OAS will deploy another mission to the first round of voting in the presidential elections in October.
“Yesterday’s election was a step forward in strengthening Haitian democracy,” said the Chief of Mission. “The work of the Mission does not end here,” added the former
Foreign Minister of Costa Rica, who said that the OAS will maintain its presence in the country until the conclusion of the vote count.
The OAS Mission consisted of 28 professionals from twelve countries, who on election day visited 171 polling stations in all the departments of Haiti.
SOURCE: http://www.oas.org/en/media_center/press_release.asp?sCodigo=E-218/15
Spain removes Barbados from blacklist
From BGIS,
Following a protest from the Ministry of International Business, Spain has removed Barbados from its tax blacklist.
This latest development comes after a recent decision was taken by members of the European Union to blacklist this country for being a non-cooperative tax jurisdiction.
International Business Minister, Donville Inniss, praised the move, and said it was his hope that other countries would follow suit.
“Barbados currently has 34 Double Taxation Agreements (DTA) and this to my mind adds great value to our International Business Sector. Also, we are expecting a DTA with Italy, and over the next few weeks, formal negotiations on a tax treaty with Cyprus will commence in London, England,” he disclosed.
The Minister added that a team from Barbados would be heading to London to oversee the negotiation process, and it would include the Deputy Director of International Business, Robert Folkes; a senior official from the Barbados Revenue Authority; and an International Business consultant based in London.
Inniss further indicated that bilateral discussions with those countries which still have Barbados on their lists are ongoing. He noted that the countries were sent diplomatic notes to ensure they were aware of the errors in their listing; to formalise tax treaty relations with them; and, more importantly, to endeavour to have this island removed from those lists.
The countries include Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia. (BGIS)
Police officer, port worker in Trinidad face child sex charges
From CARIBBEAN360
IMAGE: POLICE CONSTABLE ADRIAN MOHAMMED BEING ESCORTED TO COURT YESTERDAY. (PHOTO: TONY HOWELL/TRINIDAD GUARDIAN)
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Tuesday August 11, 2015 – A 24-year-old police officer and a worker at the Port of Point Lisas have been charged with having sex with two minors.
Constable Adrian Mohammed and 22-year-old port worker Anthony La Foucade appeared in the San Fernando Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
It is alleged that the policeman picked up a 16-year-old girl and another girl under the age of 16 on August 6, and he and La Foucade, a stevedore, had sex with them.
In addition to the charges of having sex with a minor and sexual molestation, which he faces jointly with La Foucade, the policeman faces two additional charges – that being an officer of the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, he failed to act when sexual offences were being committed against the two children.
Mohammed was granted TT$110,000 (US$17,376) bail, while Foucade was granted a slightly lesser amount of TT$90,000 (US$14,217) and both were ordered not to have any contact with the victims.
The men will reappear in court on September 8.
Text of agreement with creditors submitted to Greek parliament
AFP From Business Insider
IMAGE: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras addresses a session at the parliament in Athens, on July 23, 2015
© AFP/File Louisa Gouliamaki
Athens (AFP) – The Greek parliament late on Tuesday tabled a crucial vote on the text of an international bailout agreement between Athens and its creditors, the parliament said on its website.
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras asked the parliament’s president to call in MPs for a vote on Thursday, after the Greek government announced it had reached the outline of a rescue package worth 85 billion euros ($94 billion) to save its stricken economy from collapse.
Greece and its creditors — the EU, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund — are under pressure to finalise the deal by August 20 when Athens must repay some 3.4 billion euros to the ECB.
The bailout would be in exchange for Greece imposing fiscal and other policy measures including a gas market overhaul, the removal of most early retirement schemes, the elimination of fuel price benefits for farmers, and an increase in some taxes.
The European Commission said Tuesday Athens and its creditors had reached a technical agreement “in principle” on a bailout — the third for the debt-crippled country since 2010 — after marathon talks stretching into the early hours.
Jury verdict of Bias upheld in case of lesbian UPS worker
By Ben Bedell, From New York Law Journal
Eastern District Judge Jack Weinstein affirmed a jury verdict this week in favor of a lesbian who claimed hostile work environment discrimination at United Parcel Service, and decried the fact that “no federal statute explicitly protects against employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
Ruling in Roberts v. United Parcel Service, 13-cv-6161, Weinstein rejected UPS’s claims that plaintiff Tameeka Roberts had been subjected only to “petty slights and trivial inconveniences” that did not rise to the level of a hostile work environment required to support a claim under the New York City Human Rights Law.
He said the jury had “found improper under the law repeated advice from plaintiff’s supervisor that her sexual orientation as a lesbian was evil and needed to be changed in accordance with religious dictates.”
Supervisor Donald Woodard had made “continuing discriminatory comments about plaintiff’s sexual orientation,” over “a number of years,” which supported the jury’s verdict and imposition of $100,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, Roberts said.
“As the nation’s understanding and acceptance of sexual orientation evolve, so does the law’s definition of appropriate behavior in the workplace,” Weinstein said. “A jury, comprised of a cross-section of our heterogeneous community, is best placed to determine what is appropriate at the moment.”
Woodard “brought his Bible to work and showed [plaintiff] … where [the Bible] says that being a lesbian is wrong,” Weinstein said, citing undisputed testimony from a three-day trial in June.
“Appeal to the Bible, or theology generally, cannot justify management’s condoning the harassing of a lesbian in the workplace,” the judge said. “Defendant’s central administration failed to protect plaintiff from such abuse.”
“What is reasonable in the workplace—friendly chit chat or hurtful comment—is being gradually redefined by case law and jury verdicts,” the ruling said.
Roberts, a 41-year-old married mother of three, had worked at a UPS facility in Queens as a sorter since 1995, the ruling said. Woodard told other employees they should not associate with Roberts because she was a lesbian and “has demons.”
After complaints made over several years failed to stop the harassment, Roberts, a New Jersey resident, brought a discrimination suit in federal court under its diversity jurisdiction.
New York City is one of about 200 cities and counties that have passed laws extending employment discrimination protection to gays and lesbians, Weinstein noted, as have 22 states and the District of Columbia. But he said federal courts, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, have declined to extend Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s anti-job discrimination provisions to homosexuals.
Weinstein asserted that earlier this month, “the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued a landmark ruling—binding on all federal agencies—criticizing federal courts for ‘simply cit[ing to] earlier and dated decisions without any additional analysis’ when they interpreted Title VII’s prohibition of sex- based discrimination not to include protections against sexual orientation.”
“Sexual orientation discrimination also is sex discrimination because it necessarily involves discrimination based on gender stereotypes,” the ruling said.
Alex Umansky of the firm Phillips & Associates, who represented Roberts, said “UPS allowed Ms. Roberts to be treated like a second class citizen at work because her supervisor, Donald Woodard, believed that Ms. Roberts’ homosexuality was demonic. The jury, in finding for Ms. Roberts, rightfully saw the ignorance and illegality of Woodard’s actions and UPS’s inexplicable acquiescence to them.”
UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said in an emailed statement that “UPS was disappointed with the original verdict and the judge’s decision this week, and we’ll evaluate any next steps. UPS reinforces specific training to prevent discrimination or retaliation based on sexual orientation as part of overall policies that support inclusion.”
Kerrie Heslin, a partner at Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, represented UPS. She was unavailable for comment.
