JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
Website: www.suntci.com
VOLUME 16 - NO. 28
Email: sun@suntci.com
Tel: (649) 348-6838
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Fax: (649) 941-3281
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HOSPITAL WON’T SAY IF STAFF TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 to its present tight-lipped by Hayden Boyce Publisher & Editor-in-Chief position, on two previous
T
he Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital/ Cheshire Hall Medical Centre has refused to confirm or deny reports that one of its medical staff has tested positive for the COVID-19 virus. Impeccable sources told The SUN that a medical staff member of the hospital was among the recent number of confirmed cases. According to our source, who requested anonymity, the hospital employee was a contact of another confirmed case who identified at least 79 persons with whom they had close contact. This newspaper contacted Nikira John, marketing and public relations manager of InterHealth Canada, for a comment on the issue. Three-and-a-half hours later, she responded by email, stating: “Given the ongoing concerns related to discrimination, employees right to privacy and confidentiality and the unfortunate negative experiences towards our staff since our last publication, InterHealth Canada has made the decision to not report on this type of sensitive information. We wish to assure the public that the relevant safety measures and public health measures are taken at all times in the best interest of employee and patient safety.” In stark contrast
occasions the hospital issued detailed press statements regarding its staff members and the deadly coronavirus. On Sunday June 21st, 2020, the hospital confirmed that an employee from the catering department at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre has tested positive for COVID-19 the previous day, after contracting the virus within the community. Then on Saturday, April 4th, 2020, the hospital stated that test results were negative for hospital employees who were in contact with a temporary worker who later tested positive for COVID-19 upon his return to the USA. Medical and other analysts are of the view that notwithstanding InterHealth Canada’s stated concerns about confidentiality and discrimination, it is incumbent on the hospital, or any institution which is funded by the public purse, to be transparent about any and all cases that involve staff. In the case of the cafeteria employee, the hospital stated that although the person was not responsible for food production, the “Refresh Cafeteria” at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre was closed “as a precautionary measure, while the necessary due diligence steps” continued with catering staff. During the closure period, the hospital conducted what
it described as “the usual deep sanitization and cleaning above the normal robust environmental procedures and controls” in conjunction with TCIG Environmental Health Department. It was also noted that since becoming aware of that particular result, the Ministry of Health - Public Health team commenced contact tracing and persons deemed close contacts of the employee were quarantined while authorities investigated the source an of the transmission. In a previous press statement, InterHealth Canada said that since the
onset of the COVID-19 peak period, employees, patients and visitors have been subjected to a COVID-19 screening questionnaire and temperature screenings in order to access the health care facility. All patients have been required to present to the emergency department entrance, and staff have a dedicated entrance and are also screened. However, according to the hospital, the cafeteria employee who tested positive in June, was asymptomatic while at work and therefore would have passed the screening process. Continued on page 2
Amory Chesterton arrested for imitation firearm after reports of gun pointed at locals on boat in Turtle Cove
Police on the scene of "Impulse" Villa in Turtle Cove. Nineteen-year-old Amory Chesterton was arrested on suspicion of possession of imitation firearm with intent to cause fear. Police press relations officer Takara Bain said Chesterton is currently on police bail while the investigation progresses. A local boat captain reported that an
expatriate man who was in a villa, pointed a rifle in the direction of a boat carrying a local family, including young children, on a cruise along the coastline in the Turtle Cove area on Wednesday, July 8th, 2020. Bain said that on Thursday, July 9th at 10:50 a.m., officers executed a search warrant on the villa Coconut Road, Turtle Cove
Amory Chesterton and several items relevant to the investigation were seized. When The SUN visited the area on Thursday July 9th, four police vehicles and several armed police officers were at the villa called “Impulse”, which investigations revealed, is normally occupied by expatriates Amy, Perla and Glen Chesterton.
Conserve Energy & Save! Try not to open the oven door too often to check on your food. Each opening could lead to a temperature drop of up to 25°C. Further information and energy conservation tips are available on our website: www.fortistci.com
www.fortistci.com | 649-946-4313
Continued on page 2
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
HOSPITAL WON’T SAY IF STAFF TESTED POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 Continued from page 1
On the day the employee became symptomatic, the employee presented to an offsite clinical facility and was required to undergo a COVID-19 test out an abundance of caution, which returned a positive result. All other employees within the small department deemed close contacts are presently asymptomatic and have been quarantined as a precaution. In the April press release,
the hospital said the confirmed case was a 35-year-old, male, American temporary worker, who visited the country on March 8th – 13th 2020 to facilitate mandatory training with a group of employees at Cheshire Hall Medical Centre. He too was asymptomatic while on island but became symptomatic shortly after returning home, the hospital said. At that time there were no
confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the Turks and Caicos Islands or the primary U.S. state from which the affected male had travelled on the day the worker came to TCI. The process of contacttracing, clinical screening and quarantine measures were immediately enforced in collaboration with the Public Health Team out of an abundance of caution after information about
the overseas diagnosis was received. The Turks and Caicos Islands Hospital said then that all staff connected to the case have tested negative for COVID-19, adding that the satisfactory outcome is attributed to the stringent and elevated infection, prevention and control (IPC) measures implemented across the health care facility and the keen commitment of staff to IPC precautions.
Amory Chesterton arrested for imitation firearm after reports of gun pointed at locals on boat in Turtle Cove Continued from page 1
The Chesterton’s villa is next to a beachfront mansion with villas owned by local couple Crayton and Hilary Higgs. The local boat captain, who asked not to be identified, told The SUN he was scared when the man pointed what appeared to be
a gun in his direction. He said the children were traumatized. “It was just after 4:30 p.m. and we were just cruising along the coastline when I saw this man on the balcony pointing a gun at us like he was a sniper. We were actually in the boat, not on anyone’s property.
I was like, what the hell is going on? Let me get out of here! He kept moving across the balcony and continued pointing the gun at us. I could see him looking through the cross-hairs. I was scared and the kids were traumatised.” The captain said he
subsequently made a report to the police. While The SUN was taking photos from the balcony of the Higgs’s residence, a female in a blue skirt and blue blouse, came through a sliding door and starting using her cellular phone to record.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
The health and safety of our customers and staff remain our top priority during this time, and we thank you for your patience as we work together to stem the spread of Covid-19. Please be advised that Provo Water Company's Grace Bay Office on Grace Bay Road will re-open to customers on Monday 11th May from 9.00am to 2.00pm Monday to Friday. The following precautions will be taken:•
Covid-19 Regulations requires every person in a public space to wear a face mask.
•
Each customer must sanitize his/her hands upon entering the payment centre.
•
Only one (1) customer at any time will be allowed to enter our payment centre.
IT IS THE LAW
Our Customer Service Department will continue to serve customers from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, Monday to Friday. Customers seeking to establish a new service, reconnection, account changes or queries can contact Customer Service Department at 649-946-5202 or email customerservice@provowater.tc for assistance. Staff will remain available for emergency assistance, please call
649-231-0705
to report a fault, broken water line
or outage. We are encouraging customers to utilize our
My Account Portal
either via our website or at https://provo-
myacct.smartgridcis.net to view water bills, make payments, view water usages and update account details. Customers can continue to make payments via our payment vendors:•
CIBC First Caribbean, Scotia Bank and RBC Caribbean
•
Graceway IGA stores during their hours of operation.
We appreciate your cooperation with these pro-active measures that will remain in place until further notice.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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LOCAL NEWS
Prosecutor Andrew Mitchell, QC, in quarantine Following widespread quarantine (with my partner) reports that he is a confirmed because I was at an open deck COVID-19 case, Queen’s Counsel supper last Friday and the person Andrew Mitchell says he is currently from the Wine Cellar was there,” in quarantine along with his female he said, adding that the gathering partner, but has not yet been tested. was “perfectly lawful and right Mitchell, the lead within the health protocols”. prosecutor in the SIPT case, told There have been reports The SUN he was recently at a supper that Mitchell was sick, therefore he with a small group of persons, had asked the Court of Appeal for one of whom has since tested for additional time to respond to legal COVID-19. However, up to Friday, arguments from Ariel Misick, QC, July 10th, 2020 neither he nor his who successfully challenged a new partner was tested. regulation which states that “the “I am well! : I am in courtroom shall include any place,
The Wine Cellar closes due to COVID-19 positive test The Wine Cellar has closed of our facilities and for this we temporarily after a staff member will be closing for the time it takes tested positive for Covid-19. to complete the cleaning and A press release from the getting the “ok” from the Health company stated: “With the utmost Department to re-open.” concern for the health, wellness, The statement said staff and safety of our valued customers, members “took all precautions staff members and members of the during working hours so we are TCI Community in mind, we are hoping that this is an isolated closing The Wine Cellar and are incident”. working closely with the Health The company said it will Department to assess the situation. re-open “when it is safe to do so We are conducting a deep cleaning again”.
HS LTD.
HS Limited is seeking a suitably qualified individual to fill the following position. Only candidates who meet the minimum requirements will be considered.
COOK Job Description •Prepare food items of consistent quality in accordance with production requirements and quality standards of the restaurant while maintaining a safe sanitary work environment. •Setting up workstations with all needed ingredients and cooking equipment. •Organize all the various prep items needed from different areas to ensure that all items are in place and ready for service. •Inform the Manager of any shortage of supplies that need restocking before items completely run out. Requirements •Applicants must have a minimum of three (3) plus years culinary experience preferably in hotel food and beverage industry. •Comprehend and follow recipes and cooking techniques. •Must have thorough knowledge and understanding of food service sanitation standards. •Must be able to work on a full-time basis, varied shifts, split shifts, nights, weekends and holidays as required by management. •Must be able to understand/speak/read/write English proficiently. •Work with minimal supervision. The salary range for this position is $30,000 - $35,000.00 per annum, commensurate with experience and qualifications. Please submit applications to: Veronica Rigby, HS Ltd, P.O. Box 124, Regent House, The Regent Village, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tel: (649) 946-5126; Fax (649) 946-5191; Email: ronnie@habgroup.com. Interested Belongers must also submit copies of their application to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2. Position currently held by a work permit holder. Closing date for application is 17th July 2020.
whether in or outside the Islands, the judge or magistrate elects to sit to conduct the business of the court”. Mitchell said that contrary to reports, although he is quarantine, it has not affected his ability to work. “The reason why we asked for an extra day or so to reply to the submissions of the Respondents was because of the length of the submissions and nothing to do with anything connected with me Andrew Mitchell, QC or my health,” he said.
Royal marines hospitalised, suspended for traffic accident after curfew Two Royal Marines will determine the details were involved in a road traffic surrounding the incident; both accident in the early hours of the accident and break of curfew. this morning and were admitted The immediate collaboration to hospital with minor injuries, between military and civilian according to a statement from authorities to investigate this Governor Nigel Dakin. incident was impressive and No other vehicle or speaks to the collaborative person was involved. relationship developed over the “A joint investigation preceding months. During the by the Military Police and investigation those involved the Royal Turks and Caicos are suspended from duty,” the Islands Police is on-going and Governor added.
HS LTD.
HS Limited is seeking suitable applicants for the following position:
CLEANERS The applicants will be responsible for the daily cleaning and upkeep of the exterior of a commercial plaza. Duties will include sweeping, mopping, cleaning of windows and doors, removal of trash and cleaning of restrooms. Undertake any other duties as required as it relates to the general cleaning of the plaza.
Requirements:
The applicants must be able to work with little to no supervision, must have knowledge of proper cleaning techniques, must be able to speak, read and write in English and understand verbal and written instructions, should be physically fit, hardworking and reliable. Starting wages: $6.50 per hour
Please submit applications to: Veronica Rigby, HS Ltd, P.O. Box 124, Regent House, The Regent Village, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tel: (649) 946-5126; Fax (649) 9465191; Email: ronnie@habgroup.com Interested Belongers must also submit copies of their application to the Commissioner of Labour& Work Permit Board Zone 2. Position currently held by a work permit holder. Closing date for application is 17th July 2020.
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Turks and Caicos Islands records sharp surge in COVID-19 cases returning resident who had been quarantined and tested as a part Turks and Caicos Islands of the repatriation protocol and a recently saw a sharp spike in symptomatic community member COVID-19 cases, with 54 new with no known epidemiological cases being recorded over the 17- link to a confirmed case. A total day period of June 22nd and July of 25 primary and 3 secondary 9th, 2020. contacts were investigated, As of July 9th, there were quarantined and tested as a part of 66 cases in total, with 53 of them the contact tracing strategy. One being active. of the primary contacts has tested Minister of Health Hon. positive. Edwin Astwood said authorities On June 25th, a TCI are “actively working to bring resident who had attended an cases under control”. event with several other persons in “There is much concern the community, tested positive for about large gatherings,” he said Covid-19. Contract tracing efforts during a national press conference revealed a total of 25 primary on July 8th, 2020. “If we are to contacts and 77 secondary contacts, control this pandemic it will take who have all been quarantined. Of all of us heeding to the guidelines these, a total of 12 primary and and taking responsibility. This 11 secondary contacts have tested virus has no boundaries. It is positive (23 persons). mostly likely to be with us for the On June 26th asymptomatic next 18 months to 2 years in some resident, who had been form or the other, and we need to hospitalized, tested positive for adapt to our new norm. It is up to Covid-19. No clear epidemiological us whether we beat COVID-19 or link to a confirmed case was not.” reported. Contract tracing efforts Giving an outline of the have revealed a total of 8 primary cases since June 22nd, Astwood and 5 secondary contacts. One said that on June 22nd, 2020, the primary has tested positive. The Ministry of Health was notified of case subsequently passed away. two (2) new cases of Covid-19; a Between June 29th and By Todeline Defralien
Graceway IGA Supermarket invites applications from suitable qualified individuals to fill the listed positions currently held by work permit holders:
Lead Cleaner •Cleans, polish and disinfects sinks, stoves, freezer, counters and countertops, ovens, deep fryers, •Washes pots, pans, glassware, flatware, cups, glasses, and other dishes and containers used in preparation and service of food •Empties and sanitizes trash cans •Dust and polish chairs, tables, cash register and cash register counter and other furniture and equipment •Responsible for cleanliness of floors, drinks coolers, salad bar and cold and hot food trays •Clean, wash and polish, windows and doors and any glass or metal fittings and or fixtures •Empties and sanitizes garbage disposals •Must have previous experiences and skills working in a supermarket Deli / Bakery environment. Salary rate $ 7. 50 per hour Commercial Tractor Trailer Truck Driver Applicant must have a valid TCI driver’s license (Class-B) with a clean driving history and a clean police record and at least 3 years driving experience. Pay commensurate with experience and qualifications. Retail Position Job Requirements All applicants must be able to read, speak and understand the English Language and will be expected to sit and pass an in-house Math and English Test. •HBC Stocker
(1)
Salary Range: $7.00 - $7.50 / Per Hour Deadline for submission of applicants is July 20th, 2020 Submit to: Graceway IGA Supermarket main office complex or email: hr@ gracewayiga.com Please Note: Positions are currently held by Work Permit holders. Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Immigration Board.
July 5th a total of 5 persons tested positive for Covid19. Neither of the two were linked to other confirmed cases. A total of 13 primary and 14 secondary contacts related to these 5 cases were investigated. Two (2) primary contacts tested positive. The health minister said 205 persons are under quarantine/ observation and four Covid-19 patients have been admitted to Cheshire Hall Medical Center. “Fortunately, none required ventilation at this time. However, the two negative pressure rooms are occupied plus two others. Active case finding is ongoing by the Public Health Team and testing has been prioritized for the outbreak and emergency referrals overseas through TAP above other groups. New cases are currently being identified almost daily for the past 2 weeks.There have been challenges in relation to persons complying with contact tracing efforts including those who have tested positive which makes it difficult to ensure that all contacts are identified, quarantined and tested in accordance with established protocols,” he said, adding that there are now two deaths from COVID-19.
Minister of Health, Hon. Edwin Astwood
Astwood said TCI is mandated to report on cases of Covid-19 through the UK International Health Regulations Focal Point. This information, he said, is shared with the World Health Organization (WHO) and is posted online along with the information for all countries. He said the TCI has had to revise its previous classification from no cases to clusters as well as report on the additional cases and one death.
Finance Analyst Graceway Supermarkets is seeking a suitably qualified individual to fill a newly created position within the company. A key focus of the role will be developing the analytical skill set of the Finance Analyst to provide in depth knowledge of the company’s systems and databases, enabling data to be extracted, interpreted and presented to key stakeholders. As such, the successful candidate must be prepared to be trained and work closely with other members of the Finance team. Requirements •ACA/ACMA/ACCA/CPA professional qualification. •Comprehensive knowledge of general ledger accounting and the function of financial accounting systems. •Training in SQL (Structured Query Language) will be provided but prior experience would be beneficial. •Strong data analytics skills and a desire to further enhance analytical abilities. •Strong written and verbal communication skills. •Attention to detail and flexibility to simultaneously manage multiple tasks. Job Responsibilities •Provide analytical support to the Retail and Food Service operations teams. •Investigate pricing and inventory movement anomalies. •Responsible for the preparation of Accounts for the Maintenance Division, allocating and rebilling costs as appropriate and reporting of KPIs to stakeholders. •Working in coordination with other members of the Finance team to contribute towards the preparation of the monthly management report for the board of directors. •Assisting with semi-annual inventory counts across all stores. •Extensive training will be provided on the company’s pricing and inventory management systems in order to develop the skill set to analyse and interpret the data within these systems, representing a significant portion of the role. •Reporting directly into the Group Financial Controller and performing adhoc tasks as directed. Application Deadline: April 15, 2020 Submit to: Graceway Supermarkets’ Corporate Office, upstairs the IGA store or email: hr@gracewaysupermarkets.com Only short-listed applicants will be contacted to attend interviews.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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LOCAL NEWS
Outpatient Department renovation project complete The renovation project to outpatient department are now support ventilator connections equipped with medical gas lines in the Outpatient Department at and electrical fixtures to support Cheshire Hall Medical Centre has ventilator connections. Brand-new been completed several days ahead Hamilton G5 ventilators were used of schedule. to test the newly installed medical As a result, the area was gas lines this week. A total of six (6) accessible and reopened for staff of these ventilators were received and patient use on Monday July 6th, from Public Health England in 2020. Alternative clinical areas were partnership with the TCIG over used to operate outpatient services recent weeks to expand the number during the renovation period. of ventilators available across both A total of 12 rooms in the medical centres.
GREAT HOUSE MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED [SAILROCK] is seeking qualified candidates for the positions below in the Maintenance Department
Drywall Installer/Painter/Handyman – 2 positions available •This person will install and finish all drywall for private villas and hotel product. Responsibilities •Installing gypsum board to wood framing and mud •Apply drywall to walls or ceilings •Fasten drywall to inside framework of building •Prepare panels for painting by taping or finishing joints •Smoothing out imperfections •Working with ceiling tile installers to build walls •Paint interior walls and smooth out as needed •Perform repairs on company machinery, equipment or appliances •Repair plumbing, electrical and safety systems •Oversee the sprinkler system and trash containers on the company premises •Respond to maintenance requests in a timely and professional manner •Detect and report the need for major maintenance repairs. Qualified Candidates will have/be: •Must have 3+ years’ experience in drywall •Ability to paint neatly and cleanly •Ability to follow instruction •Well-organized and detail oriented •Ability to work well with others Salary Range $18,000 - $20,000 Annually Please submit applications to Human Resource: •Drop off: W104 Venture House, Grace Bay, Providenciales •Tel: 649-941-2121 •Email: humanresources@sailrockresort.com/swharton@ southcaicos.com These positions are currently held by a Work permit holder. Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders must also submit copies of their application to the TCI Labour Board.
The completion of the renovation work is a major step in the plans to expand critical care capacity in response to COVID-19. The other pending components are related to the supply and installation of an oxygen generator along with the receipt of additional equipment from the TCI Government - Ministry of Health. These elements and others are under active discussion and procurement. The outpatient department
area will be utilized for patient surges and critical care in a worst-case scenario as a part of the health sector capacity being built in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Designated rooms on the general ward are currently the location used for the isolation and clinical management of patients affected with COVID-19, and shall remain the primary location once the capacity exists.
T&C Refreshments Manager Parameters •Management of day to day operations •Ensure deliveries are executed •Willing to work in fast paced and multifaceted environment •Willing to temporarily relocate to The Bahamasfor training •Must be a “people person” that will never compromise on providing exceptional customer service •Willing to work on weekends and holidays Qualifications •Bachelor’s Degree (Business Management or related fields preferred) •Valid Driver’s Licence •5years sales, or other supervisory experience Skills •Candidates must be energetic, highly motivated and eager to learn •Analytical and time management skills •Strong management and leadership skills •Excellent communication skills (both written and verbal) •Ability to work efficiently with limited supervision, and take ownership for assigned responsibilities •Ability to multi-task and communicate effectively •Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and Powerpoint Salary range $36,000 - $42,000 Interested persons must submit resumes to: T&C Refreshments #10 Butterfield Square Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands & Employment Services Samuel Been Building Airport Road Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Report from July 8th Cabinet meeting His Excellency the Governor, Nigel Dakin, chaired the 25th meeting of the Cabinet on Wednesday 8 July by videoconference. All members were present.
in advance; (9) Domestic travel from Providenciales to any other islands is not permitted save for essential travel only (such as for purposes of banking and doctor visits) until 20 July;
and approved the outline approach to mitigate the revenue risk. • Noted the government’s financial performance for the period May 2020 and approved the outline approach to mitigate the revenue risk.
At this meeting, Cabinet: • Were updated on Covid-19 cases to date, actions taken and agreed the following additional risk mitigations on Providenciales only with effect from 9th July 2020, in response to these: (1) Night curfew to be extended until 5am on 20 July and, with effect from 9 July, curfew hours to change to 8pm until 5am;
(10) Beach gatherings and boat trips limited to members of the same household, with a maximum of four adults, until 20 July; and (11) Persons over the age of 65 and in high risk categories are recommended to shelter in place.
• Approved the reallocation of funds from existing Port Authority projects and agreed to the Port Authority using the required land to address a shortfall for the construction of Port, Port Office/ Welcome Centre, Restaurant and Retail Shops on parcel 50303/1, Bellefield Landing, North Caicos.
• Agreed effective 22nd July 2020 for • Approved Planning Application NC visitors and returning residents (with 1168 for the construction of a building the exception of children aged ten (10) containing a Ports Authority office, (2) Businesses under Phase 3 (hotels, or under) to have evidence of a negative Welcome Centre, Post Office, Restaurant dine in restaurants, bars, casinos, Covid-19 test taken within five (5) days and Retail Shops on parcel 50303/1, discotheques, gyms, spas and fitness of arrival in TCI instead of 72 hours. From Bellefield Landing, North Caicos. centers) to remain closed until 20 July; 22nd July 2020, visitors and any person who is not covered under the National • Agreed amendments to the Coronavirus (3) Places of worship to be limited to ten Health Insurance Plan must also have Business Assistance Grant Policy to (10) people only until 20 July; Covid-19 specific travel insurance that include (i) an appeals process for covers in country medical treatment, declined applications; (ii) an extended (4) Funeral services to be limited to ten the cost of quarantine, and repatriation/ deadline for applications; (iii) a revised (10) people only until 20 July; medivac (if necessary). list of supporting documents allowed and (iv) the use of NIB assessments as (5) Social gatherings of any description •Agreed an extension to 30th September proof of NIB contributions subject to a to be limited to members of the same 2020 for submitting the 2019-20 TCIG’s review of the legal mechanisms to give household only and to be limited to ten Annual Public Accounts to the National effect to the policy. (10) people until 20 July; Audit Office in lieu of disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. • Approved the appointment of Mr. Floyd (6) Weddings to be limited to ten (10) Ingham as the Interim CEO of the Turks people only until 20 July; • Noted the Public Expenditure and and Caicos Islands Airport Authority Financial Accountability (PEFA) with effect from 1st July 2020 until a (7) Sporting events/activities and contact Assessment of the Turks and Caicos new CEO has filled the post. sports are not permitted until 20 July; for 2006-2019 and agreed for it to be presented to the House of Assembly. Further information on these matters (8) Outdoor camps limited to ten (10) will be provided by Ministers in due people only and indoor camps to be • Noted the government’s financial course. approved by the Chief Medical Officer performance for the period April 2020
Turks and Caicos Sun
Suite#5, Airport Plaza Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands Tel: (649) 348-6838 Fax: (649) 941-3281 Email: sun@suntci.com Read us online at www.suntci.com Publisher & Editor-in-Chief: Hayden Boyce Graphic designer Information Technology and Production Manager: Kelano Howell Todeline Defralien Reporter
The Turks and Caicos SUN is a subsidiary of The SUN Media Group Ltd. We are committed to excellence in journalism, educating and informing our readers, serving and satisfying our advertisers and assisting in the overall development of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
for diagnosing and treating patients at multiple locations. The responsibility of the Jobholder will be to:
Paradise Smiles Dental Office is looking to fill the following positions:
DENTAL NURSE/THERAPIST Job Duties: •Checking gums and fixing teeth with oral abnormalities •Taking and developing dental x-rays •Educating patients on oral hygiene •Developing care plans for maintaining good dental hygiene •Providing dental Treatment to kids. •Fluoride administration and sealant applications •Administering local anesthetic •Removing stains and plaque •Preparing and maintaining dental instruments, supplies and equipment. Basic Pay will start at:$2,600 per/month. The position is currently being held by a work permit holder, applicants who are Turks & Caicos Islanders should also send copies of their CV to the Immigration board. General Dentist Job Duties:The jobholder must have a Degree in Dental Surgery (D.D.S.) or Dental Medicine (D.M.D.) as they will be responsible
•Provide a full range of extensive treatments (preventative, restorative and surgical), examples include the giving of injections for infiltrations and nerve blocks, the extraction of teeth, the cutting of cavities with high speed rotary instruments. •Plan the appropriate order of treatment, implement, and interpret / refine as treatment progresses to final stage. •Discuss specific treatment plans, if appropriate, analyze patient information and adapt for individual needs. •Analyze patient information and adapt treatment if appropriate. •Treat patient groups including children and adults and those with multiple complex needs. Understand the needs of patients with anxiety and disabilities and carry out their treatment accordingly. Basic Pay will start at $3,500 per month This is a new position; applicants who are Turks & Caicos Islanders should also send copies of their CV to the Immigration board. Please submit all CV’s to the following email below. 23 Parade Avenue, Town Center Mall Downtown, Butterfield Square, Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands (649) 946-5302/431-5302 Ruth-Ann Missick Bld. Grand Turk Turks & Caicos Islands (649) 431-5317 Email: paradise.smiles12@gmail.com Website: www.paradisesmilesTCI.com
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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salt restaurant
open monday to saturday | 11am – 5pm
TAKE OUT MENU
pizza
pasta 18
pepperoni
22
meat lovers
lasagna penne
marinara or alfredo with shrimp
18 22
18
vegetarian
dessert add your own topping
chef selection
1.50
veggie topping
loaf of banana bread
9
sides ask for topping choices available
italian garlic bread
monday -saturday 11:00am - 5:00pm
12
2.50
meat topping
Call to order today (649) 332 4403
7
All prices are subject to 12% government tax and 10% service charge. Located @ Blue Haven Marina.
take out order only
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Ritz-Carlton, FortisTCI partner for sustainability FortisTCI and the RitzCarlton Hotel and Residences are working together to increase renewable energy integration in the Turks and Caicos Islands. The luxurybranded development has signed on as FortisTCI’s 10th Utility Owned Renewable Energy Program (UORE) customer, further diversifying the country’s energy profile. The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Residences are currently under construction on Grace Bay Beach, Providenciales, and are expected to open in 2021. A 210.6 kW rooftop solar PV system will be installed on the resort’s casino and restaurant rooftop. It will be a grid-tied installation, generating approximately 310MWh annually and help avoid approximately 244 tons of CO2 emissions. Customers participating in the UORE program receive a monthly fixed credit for rooftop space and an annual variable incentive based on system production. Speaking about the partnership, Director Roberto Stipa said, “Our team is very excited to partner with FortisTCI on this project and to reduce our environmental impact. Our goal at the Ritz Carlton is based on building and operating sustainable hotels and doing our part to protect our natural surroundings. We are especially proud to be the first resort property in the Turks and Caicos Islands signed on to this FortisTCI renewable energy program.”
The Ritz-Carlton Residencies is located on the world renowned Grace Bay beach and currently under construction. Upon opening in 2021, the property will be home to a 210.6 kW grid-tied UORE solar PV system owned and managed by FortisTCI. FortisTCI President and CEO Eddinton Powell said, “Sustainability projects like solar and wind will be key to the diversification of energy in the Turks and Caicos Islands. And we cannot achieve clean-energy goals without partnerships such as this. By working together, we will transform the energy landscape of the Turks and Caicos Islands. I am pleased to welcome the Ritz-Carlton
on board as our newest partner in renewable energy. With the right regulatory framework and business environment, I am confident that we can increase our roof-mounted solar uptake in the coming years. Certainly, we look forward to joining with more customers for sustainability projects that benefit all stakeholders.” To date, FortisTCI has installed over 1MW of distributed
solar PV generation and has plans to complete an additional 1 MW project across the islands. As outlined in the Resilient National Energy Transition Strategy (R-NETS), developed by the Turks and Caicos Government and FortisTCI in conjunction with the Rocky Mountain Institute, the company is aiming to integrate 33% renewable energy by 2040.
HS LTD. HS LTD is seeking suitable applicants for the following position:
LABOURER Main Duties • Cleaning and washing up all sections of kitchen • Removes all garbage from kitchen, food storage area and restaurant • Stocking and cleaning of food storage areas • Check all deliveries, ensuring all have arrived and storing away of items • Willing to work holidays and weekends when required Wages: $7.00 per hour Please submit applications to: Veronica Rigby, HS Ltd, P.O. Box 124, Regent House, The Regent Village, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tel: (649) 946-5126; Fax (649) 946-5191; Email: ronnie@habgroup.com Interested Belongers must also submit copies of their application to the Commissioner of Labour& Work Permit Board Zone 2. Position is currently held by a work permit holder. Closing date for application is 27thJuly 2020.
NOTICE Schedule 2 Regulation 8 of the Physical Planning (Development Permission) Regulations, 2018 An Application, REGISTERED PR 14861 by Camco Enterprises Ltd., for rezoning of parcels 60714/ 309, 310, 311 & 312 , Cheshire Hall & Richmond Hill on Providenciales which is currently zoned for Low Density Residential Class A 1 Unit/Acre to TO 1 Tourism (Hotels, Condos, Holiday Homes). The planning application is for Eight (8) Villas with Swimming Pools and Ancillary Facilities, an Office Building to be used for Management & Reception, Turning Circle & Entrance Gate. Anyone wishing to make representation(s) may do so in writing to the Director of Planning, South Base, Grand Turk or through the Department of Planning, Emily House, Leeward Highway, Providenciales, within twenty-eight (28) days of publication of this Notice.
Do you aspire to build a thriving hospitality career at one of the leading luxury resorts in the Caribbean? Are you a self-motivated, talented team-player, interested in joining a dynamic team? The Amanyara Resort invites all suitable candidates to apply for the following positions: *STEWARD •Ensures that kitchen, dining and storage areas are kept sanitary •Ensures that all utensils and supplies for guests and restaurant staff are available when needed •Maintains a hygienic work environment in accordance with hygiene regulations and company standards. Requirements: •Must be proficient in English •Physically fit and ability to perform manual labor •Possess the ability to deliver service aligned with resort standards. Salary based on experience: $6.50 per hour, plus service charge Candidates must be available to work 6 days a week, weekends, and holidays. Positions marked with * are currently held by a work permit holder. However, qualified belongers are encouraged to send a cover letter & resume with the following attachments: Valid Police Record, Passport Bio Page, Proof of TCI status i.e. PRC, Belonger Status Card or Naturalization Certificate. Human Resources Amanyara Resort Northwest Point, Providenciales E: amanyarahrassistant@aman.com Prospective applicants are also asked to send copies to the Labour Board. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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LOCAL NEWS
TCI struggles with contact tracing for COVID-19 By Todeline Defralien
As the number of cases continues to rise in Turks and Caicos Islands, there has been a huge struggle with contact tracing for persons who test positive for the virus, according to Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood. Astwood confirmed that in some cases the Ministry of Health cannot completely do the contact tracing due to lack of information. “If someone interviews me and says, ‘Minister where do you live’, and I say ‘I don’t know, some place in Turks and Caicos Islands’. And if they ask, ‘Minister do you have a wife?’ And I say, ‘I don’t know’, Or is they asked, ‘Minister do you have children’, and I said
no. So we are depending on persons to give us that information that we can do the contacting tracing and see where they work, were they live, who they live with in order to get a complete picture,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday July 8th. He added: “Once we have gaps in the information we cannot adequately connect our dots to see who is related to whom and if persons are not providing the information that is needed to go and find that other person. Those are some of the bottle necks that we have here in doing the contact tracing and finding out who is related and linked to who.” Astwood said the ministry is working to provide a complete
picture to residents of the contact tracing with surveillance mapping. “As we continue to do contact tracing, we will see exactly who they are. We are hoping to have a complete picture of the contact tracing with the surveillance mapping, where we can put dots on various communities/ clusters to identify by the weekend. That work is ongoing so we can have a complete picture of what is going on here in the TCI,” he said. Meantime, the Minster of Health stated that the data revealed that the one person who went to an event at a particular place had infected at least 12 persons. “With those 12 persons, if you multiply the effect, they have infected at least 11 persons from the
Minister of Health Hon. Edwin Astwood data. One person infected 12, and each of those 12 infected (others) and that continues and you can see how that can escalate going forward. We are scheduled to have this data pulled together by the weekend so we can present a picture to the general public that includes the mapping with dots, where you can see all the clusters here in Providenciales,” he said.
Urban Brand ‘Camo Wear’ taking approach to fitness line By Todeline Defralien
Since its launch in 2016, authentic Urban Brand ‘Camo Wear’ is elevating its reach and now approaching a fitness line. Founded by Courtney Antonio Missick of Grand Turk, the brand’s objective is to stand out with unique creations with a blended twist of Island vibes x Urban City Lifestyle. ‘Camo Wear’ is an Urban Brand of London, United Kingdom, originated from the beautiful Caribbean Islands of Turks and Caicos, A British Overseas Territory. “Camo Wear will be making some changes around its logo and taking an approach to the fitness sector and as for Fresh Azimiz we will be dropping more outfits very soon. So please do follow us on social media to keep up to date with what’s going on around the Brands. We’ve worked with the best of the best manufacturers from across the globe to bring you, our dearest customers the best in value and quality,” Misick said. Missick is also the cofounder of another well-known local Brand, ‘Fresh Azimiz’ which targets more of a younger audience. “Fresh Azimiz is co-founded by both Kobe and I. We wanted to branch off Camo Wear aiming more to the younger generation so that’s how Fresh Azimiz came about, just few months after the launch of Camo Wear also in 2016. Fresh Azimiz means, simply saying I’m “Fresh As-im-is’’, however you wear the brand, you look good and no one else can look as fresh as you are. It’s your style, your persona. It
was made for you.” of planning and strategizing on Both Camo Wear and how I will make this big dream of Fresh Azimiz offer a wide range of mine a reality. The following day products from; Tracksuits, Sweaters, I woke up as planned, created my Shorts, T-shirts, Crop tops, Fanny logo, contacted a manufacturer packs, Chest packs, Hats, Swimsuits, from a well-known manufacturing Swim shorts and more. platform, sent her my sketch which “I always knew I wanted was my first ever, 100 Polo shirts all to become a businessman someday red with Grand Turk on it. You’re and create a name for myself, but wondering why red right? Well, I had no clear vision of what I figured since each Island has its wanted exactly until moving to own representative colour and I’m London where I was inspired by its from Grand Turk. So we’ll go with urban lifestyle and ongoing fashion. the brightest red you’ve got with I’ve always had the passion and the bolding GRAND TURK in the drive for Art and Fashion. When I front straight across the stomach. A first moved to London, if I wasn’t day after that, I got an email from reading or recording music I would a well-known graphic designer and find myself randomly sketching then got me out there, and there or painting portraits during my you have it guys, CAMO WEAR leisure time, and if I wasn’t doing official logo. If you ask me what the either of the two, I would spend logo symbolises in my word, “How hours at Westfield shopping centre my creations are going to blow window shopping and one day I got people’s minds away,” he explained this idea that I wanted to put my to The SUN. creativity to life,” he said. “The support from my Missick said he also knew community is great. I just need to he wanted to create a brand and get Camo Wear into local clothing name for himself. stores around the different Islands “I wanted to express my art to reach a larger audience. As a with my talent and give something young Turks and Caicos Islander that young men in society can from Grand Turk, it is very relate to, something affordable and important for me to embark on which reaches every diversity and something like this to prove to give them ideas that they can do society that we don’t always have this too, especially coming from a to set out to be what society wants middle-class place like Grand Turk, us to be. We create identities for Casha Gardens (THE GARDEN) ourselves and we can make it if we where expectation for young men remain focused, have faith, take to succeed is extremely low.” risks and have the willingness to Missick stated that in learn. I would say Camo Wear reaching his goals he started reading stands out from the others because entrepreneur and marketing books of its diversity. We also do custom to try and figure out how to brand wear including hand painting on himself. merchandise upon request and we “It took me two months always go the extra mile to ensure
Courtney Antonio Missick, Owner/ Founder of ‘Camo Wear’. that customers are happy and well looked after.” Meantime, Missick said he would like to see both Camo Wear and Fresh Azimiz worldwide, helping to create jobs and employments for all whilst expressing and showcasing talents and creativity. Persons who are interested in both brands can find them on: Facebook: Camo Wear, Instagram: @camo_wear_clothingco, @ freshazimizco and Website: www. camowearclothingco.co.uk, www. freshazimiz.com. You can also find Camo Wear merch at Trendz Apparel located in Grand Turk, Barack Hill Road, Airport Road, Turks and Caicos Islands. Fresh Azimiz at Mr. Tux, Salt Mills Plaza, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands.
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JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Victor Lowe and Lisa Garland head TCIFA leagues Turks and Caicos Islands the Concacaf Women’s World Cup Football Association (TCIFA) has Qualifier in 2010. announced the appointment of In 2004, Garland was Victor Lowe as president of the Provo appointed to the TCIFA’s Women’s Premier League, and Lisa Garland as Football Committee, where her president of the Women’s Football member responsibilities included League. aiding in the promotion of women’s Lowe’s background includes football and the organization of a stellar scientific and new ventures a structured league, and seeking development career in Corporate women’s football developmental America, working with companies opportunities. She continued serving such as Carnation/Nestle, Pillsbury on this Committee over the years. Corporation, M&M Mars Corporation, “I am very enthusiastic and while securing numerous patents. excited to accept this role as Head of A scientist, entrepreneur, the Women’s Football League and to philanthropist, and visionary, Lowe be able to serve in such a prestigious is the founder and CEO of Global organization. It has always been an Capital Limited, TCI’s premier nonaspiration of mine to be a part of deposit-taking micro-medium lender. helping to promote Women’s Football He was also recently appointed 2nd in our country and I humbly embrace Vice President of the TCIFA during its Presidents, Victor Lowe of the Provo Premier League, and Lisa Garland of the Women’s Football this opportunity. I am looking League. 2020 Congress. forward to working with the team while leading a sustainable by the Misick & Stanbrook lawfirm of professionals already established Lowe’s entrepreneurial zeal and accomplishments have earned competitive sports program and since 1995, is one of the company’s in the organization and to continue him the title trailblazer, having funding a sports directorate. Victor longest serving employees. developing the great work that has She is currently a senior been done thus far. With that being established a successful automotive is a founding member of the annual accessories development and Westmoreland Curry Festival, a personal assistant to two of its said, I want to thank the TCIFA marketing company in the United fundraiser, which supports the partners, and manages the firm’s for affording me this invaluable States, as well as being on the school’s development and NGOs banking and security department. opportunity and I promise to give my cutting edge of technology in his in the city of Sav-La-Mar. Amongst Her role in the firm has grown over all in service,” Garland stated. native Jamaica where he established Lowe’s many interest, is a his intense the years and she is now an integral TCIFA President Sonia Fulford the first company (World Telenet passion for sports, especially football. part of a closely-knit team that has said: “We are excited to be welcoming on his been together for more than 20 Lowe and Garland as the new League International) to provide internet Commenting service by way of fiber optic or appointment, Lowe said: “I am years. This is a testament to Garland’s Presidents. And, although the change both humbled by, and appreciative loyalty and commitment to those over occurs during a difficult time, in submarine cable. He also holds the distinction of the confidence that has been around her. light of the global pandemic and with Garland has always been football currently not being played, I of being the first Caribbean placed in me by the Executive Body national to secure an international of TCIFA led by the competent and tremendously involved in various believe that the spirit of togetherness, telecommunications license to passionate President Sonia Fulford, sports, but her devotion to football deliberateness and enthusiasm break the then monopoly held by to further propel the league. I am dates all the way back to the year 2000. displayed by our TCIFA team will Cable and Wireless, and secured the distinctly aware of the ensuing Her daughter, who then participated definitely help with this transition. the women’s programme, Both individuals bring with them a second FCC-214 telecoms license responsibilities and I am committed in issued by the United States Federal to the obligations that come with influenced her involvement. She wealth of business experience and a Communications Commission to the task. I am especially excited to be would join the Red Star Football Club burning desire to see the FA succeed. a telecommunications entity in a working with such a dedicated group where she was tasked as team captain I am sure that they will also bring of professionals who lend themselves for several club competitions. foreign jurisdiction. that positive energy to our team; Lowe is deeply committed selflessly to the endeavors and the Her strength, discipline and passion strengthen our commitment to to youth development, and this vision of the Association. I applaud for the sport landed her a spot on the football development and enhance is manifested in his service and TCIFA’s ongoing demonstration of TCI Women’s National Team. This critical solutions to ensure the contribution as a Trustee and Member investment in our young people brought her a few caps by competing leagues are back in full swing. We are of the Board of Management of The and encourage the young men and in the first series of national and looking forward to what the future Mannings School - Jamaica’s oldest women of the Turks and Caicos regional competitions representing holds under their leadership, and we British co-educational secondary to become more involved, and to the Turks & Caicos Islands, with the are confident that the leagues will harness the many opportunities that most notable being TCIFA’s first- continue to endure long into the school. ever international match against the future.” He continues to support exist in this great sport of football.” Lisa Garland, who has been employed Haiti Tigress in the year 2000, and academic development of students
1st Annual Virtual Business Showcase set for September 5th, 2020 By Todeline Defralien
Turks and Caicos Islands’ first Annual Virtual Business Showcase is set to take place on Saturday September 5th, 2020. Grisilder Elaine Lightbourne, C.E.O of Global Express Services, said the event is created to motivate, encourage and build awareness to local businesses. Lightbourne told The SUN her goal is to bring community awareness to businesses that exist in Turks & Caicos and also be able to attract tourists. She said, “This event the “1st Annual Virtual Business Showcase” was born from a vision I had a few weeks ago. I literally got scared and try to put it out of my head, but I could not sleep, so I decided to put pen to paper. This is not new for me to host an event, as I have done a few seminars through another business a few years back; “Smart Discipline for Kids” which was geared towards helping parents discipline their kids and “Customer Service for Small Business”. So I would say it fell in
line with what I have done in the past.” Lightbourne said she is committed to bringing this vision to the table because as a business owner, she wanted to give up due to what has been happening during this pandemic. “The reason why I commit to bringing this vision to past, is that I was about to give up and call it quits myself due to what has been happening during this pandemic. But God has a way of doing things. I am seeing persons being blessed during this pandemic and He promised to keep you in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him. Therefore my reason for the event is to motivate, encourage, bring awareness to all our local businesses, while reaching the world,” she explained. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic persons will not be able to physically attend the tradeshow, but it will be hosted virtually online. Lightbourne continued: “Well a Virtual Business Showcase is similar to a Tradeshow, but due to the pandemic we are not able to
physically attend a tradeshow. Most events are now being hosted online or virtually, giving the feeling of being in an actually tradeshow/ showcase. So once persons register, they will be able to log in and view all the activities planned on the main stage.” Lightbourne said there will be various speakers on topics such as the laws of business, how to manage finances during this pandemic and tips on promoting your business for less. She added: “Then there will be our main feature where the expo/ business floor will open to everyone and person can visit each booth/ businesses that is registered as a sponsor, or exhibitors, by clicking on their business logo and you will enter that business booth and learn of about that business products or services. Each booth will be equipped for live videos and pre-recorded video, a chat feature etc.” There are booth rental fees for sponsors and exhibitors but the event is FREE to the public. Lightbourne said she is
Grisilder Elaine Lightbourne already thinking of how she will be expanding next year’s showcase if God spares life. The event is now open for registration and interested persons can visit the event website at https:// tcivirtualbusinessshowcase.com and register. Persons just might win a prize for early registration and attendees will receive reminders leading up to the event on Saturday, September 5th 2020.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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HOW TO PAY YOUR FORTISTCI BILL
Dear Valued Customer, As the COVID-19 situation continues to unfold, FortisTCI wants you to know that we are here for you. We are following our robust business continuity plans, and our employees are working around the clock to keep the lights on. For those working to keep their bills as current as possible, we are offering more ways to pay while our customer service centers are closed. My Online Account
The online customer web portal is accessible 24 hours a day and allows you to monitor your daily consumption, view your account balance, and pay your bill using a credit or debit card. To register, log onto www.fortistci.com, select the ‘My Online Account’ tab, and click ‘register now’. You will need your meter number and account number.
Pay Online Using a Local Bank
If you bank with FirstCaribbean, ScotiaBank, or RBC, you can pay your bill online using their online bill payment option. You must register through your bank and should speak with a bank representative for more information. Payments are posted within 48 hours.
Payment by Cash or Check
Customers who cannot pay online using a credit card, debit card, or their bank account, can pay their bills by check or cash at the following authorized payment agent locations: • Provo – Any Graceway Supermarket location • North & Middle Caicos – At BETCO (Bernie Handfield), Bottle Creek • South Caicos – At Seaview Market, Stubbs Road • Grand Turk - National Company Services (NCS), Cees Building, Church Folly Road Customers are reminded to adhere to all curfew stipulations as outlined by the government and should only access the above essential service locations at times prescribed in the law. If utilizing an authorized pay agent to make a bill payment, have your bill on hand at the time of payment.
Questions? Email or Call for Account Updates
If you have questions or need account information, you can email us at customerservice@fortistci.com, or call 649-946-4313. Our customer service representatives are available Monday to Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Sincerely, FortisTCI
2017 Winner
Allied Member of the Year
BCMS 681102
www.fortistci.com | 649-946-4313 |
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Cleta Soul Child Podcast: Making it Millennial Cleta Handfield, better known as “Cleta Soul Child” is a young Millennial who has embarked on a journey to self-actualization and is taking us along for the ride through a stream of online platforms; relaying her truth through Spoken Word, Blogging and Podcasting. It was several months before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 Pandemic that she realized she had something to say and thought that others might be empowered by her candid approach to becoming the woman she wanted to be. Cleta was born in Miami, Florida, where she lived until the age of eight. She then relocated to the Beautiful By Nature Turks and Caicos Islands, her father’s home country, where she lived for seven years before returning to the U.S. to further her studies. Her heart, however, brought her back to TCI where she calls home. “Even though I’ve experienced living in two different countries during the core years of my youth having lived in both places has given me a wider perspective on overall culture, life, and people,” she said Of the new path, she has embarked upon, Cleta explains: “My goal is to share my personality, heart, mind, and soul by perpetuating an atmosphere of positivity and prosperity through my writing,
podcast, and social media forums.” Cleta Soul Child Podcast: Making it Millennial, debuted on April 19, 2020. The first topic for discussion was “Local Entrepreneurs & COVID-19”. The aspiring entrepreneur says the topic was close to her heart. She had previously resigned from her job to pursue her small business venture called ParadICE Turks & Caicos that was set to launch on April 25, 2020, at Lipstick & Things, but she was blindsided by COVID-19. “During the lockdown my thoughts were I’m sure more I am not the only one feeling the harshness of this outcome,” she admitted. “Perhaps I should share my truth and be vulnerable about the reality that I’m living and hear what others have to say, and that’s what definitely inspired the first topic.” The response she received from local business owners who participated in the Instagram Live show assured Cleta that she had found her passion. Charged by the overwhelming amount of support, Cleta continued on with Live Episodes on Sundays with topics she felt needed to be addressed in the community, along with wellinformed guests to further educate her viewers. Among her guests were Governor Nigel Dakin who talked
about the Royal Navy’s presence in the TCI and their Hurricane Preparation Training and crime amongst other things; Hon. Akierra Missick and Hon. Maxovonno Thomas discussed the importance of voting and Sergeant Delton Robinson from Royal TCI Police Force who talked about the civilian’s role in preventing crime. Other topics she has covered include Hurricane Preparedness Amidst COVID-19, Financial Literacy, Management, and Insurance and the importance of fathers in the home. She expressed sincere gratitude for all who have been willing to be a part of her show. Ultimately, Cleta says she hopes that others will be encouraged Cleta Handfield, better known as “Cleta Soul by her bravery. Child” “I felt extremely defeated with the recent events of COVID branding “Cleta Soul Child” and you and my planned reality taking a can visit her website cletasoulchild. complete shift. I’m sure it has many com follow her on Instagram where negative impacts on others but I you can find Calendar updates of can genuinely say that this was my upcoming Live Episodes, Facebook, blessing in disguise. I knew I was Twitter and check out her YouTube capable of many things however I Channel for more updates as she never expected to find my passion continues this journey to “Making It this way, and I am committed to Millennial.” making this platform a voice for “I welcome everyone to others in our community, through join me on all of my Social Media endless discussions about topics platforms to be a part of my that need to be addressed for the community of friends and get great betterment of our people and future insight, value, and information generations.” while I impact one viewer at a time,” Cleta is now focused on she says.
Britney Spears reveals she loves Turks and Caicos Islands Britney Spears is revealing a few of her favorite things. According to People Magazine the pop star, 38, answered fan questions in an Instagram video Wednesday evening, sharing her favorite song, vacation spot and food. “Okay so a lot of my followers have been asking a lot of questions through my comments. I listened and so now I’m going to answer all of your questions,” the “Oops!… I Did It Again” singer began in the video. “My favorite song is ‘Toxic’ that I have done,” Spears said, referencing her 2003 hit. “And I have no idea what my favorite song in the whole world is. “My favorite place to visit is Hawaii and Turks and Caicos,” she
continued. “Turks and Caicos is a little bit more jungle-y and more tropical. There’s not that many people there, it’s a small island. And it basically has the cleanest food, the most beautiful ocean. The spa is amazing, and it’s my favorite place to visit.” As for Spears’ favorite food? “Chili hot dog,” she said, laughing at the camera. If she could have three wishes, they would be “for love, Happiness and a world’s supply of designer clothes,” Spears concluded in the video, which was captioned “Psss can you imagine a world supply of designer clothes The singer has been posting regular updates on social media throughout the current coronavirus pandemic. On Tuesday, she shared
a video to her Instagram page featuring her doing yoga on the beach. “I am missing this !!!!! There is nothing like yoga on the beach .... just the sound of the waves makes me so serene !!!!!” she captioned the video. “You should try it if you are able to safely …. we as people are all filled with so much anxiety ….. taking a moment to breathe truly helps …. just know we are all in this together !!!!” The caption continued, “Stay strong and GOD BLESS!!!!!!! Pss I wish I had taken a picture of the social distance-style sandcastle I built with a little girl ….. we had two huge white bird feathers on top of it ….. her mamma was so nice to me !!!!!”
Britney Spears
Update on local COVID-19 testing On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was officially declared a pandemic by the WHO (World Health Organization) Director-General. COVID-19 is a viral illness which spreads from person to person in droplet form. The Turks and Caicos Islands Ministry of Health over the last few months has taken a series of steps with great effort to enhance the country’s capacity to address the threat of COVID-19, including developing incountry diagnostic capacity. On 26th May 2020 the National Public Health Laboratory officially commenced testing samples for COVID-19 using PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology, the approved and gold standard method for the identification of COVID-19.
In addition to this achievement, the Ministry saw the coming into effect enabling legislation, namely the Public and Environmental Health (Testing Of Covid-19) Regulations 2020 on 30th April 2020. The regulations make provision whereby persons being tested for this disease shall receive tests from scientifically proven and approved methods. The legislation has made it an offence for agents to perform or offer testing without proper scrutiny and subsequent approval of the methods being used by the Ministry of Health. The Ministry so far has received one application for testing from the Private Sector which is currently under review. As with many new and emerging diseases, manufacturers have scrambled to create and produce recognized
testing devices to be used to identify the causative agent of COVID-19. Unfortunately, not all of the testing methodologies and devices being offered are on par with the recommended gold standard and this has resulted in a significant amount of false diagnoses across the world. The Ministry of Health advises that persons who subject themselves to testing by agents who have not received proper approval are doing so at their own risk and may receive a result which is incorrect and cannot be relied upon. The Regulations require all persons who carry out testing for COVID-19 to have written approval from the Ministry of Health and to report the results of all testing to the Ministry in a timely manner.
Further, as COVID-19 is a notifiable disease as specified in Turks And Caicos Islands. Public and Environmental Health (Infectious And Notifiable Diseases) Notice. 2020, the Ministry of Health must be duly notified of results from all Covid-19 testing. All facilities wishing to engage in testing for Covid-19, whether locally or through overseas laboratories, should contact the Ministry of Health on 649-338-5161. The Ministry remains committed to safeguarding the health of the nation. For up to date information on Covid-19, please visit the Ministry of Health’s website on https://www.gov.tc/ moh/coronavirus/.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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LOCAL NEWS
Objection to Disposal of Beach Access 60905/204 (Pt) In accordance with the Islands. The beaches were public, the proprietor clearly stated that he Crown Land Ordinance S 43 (1), I but it made no sense for the beach requires it for private use, which hereby lodge my objection to the to be public and the public could precludes the public from accessing disposal a part of the beach access, not enjoy it, if there was no defined that piece of land. The proprietor which is part of the road that is public access to it. was of the full knowledge as to the contained in parcel 60905/204, shape of his land when he bought it which contains a total acreage of 5.In this particular subdivision of because he had to be presented with 4.22 ac. The basis of my objection are 60905, four parcels were transferred a surveyor’s Boundary Certificate as as follows: to the Crown on or about13/8/2007, part of his closing documents. I am 201 with an area of 0.81 ac; 202 with attaching a copy of a recent survey 1.Provident Ltd had been granted an area of 3.25 ac; 203 with an area that I had done that shows that a total of 4,000.00 acres of land in of 2.40 ac and 204 with an area of there is already an encroachment on Providenciales in the mid 1960 to 4.22 ac. the beach access. I am also attaching create residential and commercial a copy of the applicant’s proposal lots for sale. In order for that sale to 6.If you were to take the 0.22 acre which clearly indicates his intent. take place, a number of subdivisions as a percentage or proportion of the were created to achieve that goal. 4.22 ac, then it seems small. However, 9.We are aware of the constant stress when you narrow it down to the being put on the ability of persons 2.A number of those subdivisions “hammer head” of the beach access, on Providenciales in particular from By Hon. Dr. Royal S. Robinson, MBE were created along Grace Bay which then you are taking away practically utilizing beach and the access to it by has a significantly large stretch of half of that space. That space was unscrupulous land owners who have that has an equal knowledge of white sandy beach. designed so that parking of vehicles adopted the posture that the beach the history of this and other beach and turning around could take place. is their private domain and access to accesses as I have, save and except 3.Between the Developer, Provident Cutting that off significantly reduces it by the ordinary Turks and Caicos Bengt Soderqvist of Provident Ltd. Ltd, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the number of parking spaces Islander must be prohibited at all In my career, I have been Chief the Departments of Planning and available as well as the ability to turn cost. This application, when taken in Land Surveyor, Director of Planning, Land Survey, it was determined around effectively. its global perspective, would in effect Registrar of Lands as well as that a number of beach accesses, at create the situation where the Turks Permanent Secretary for the Ministry pre-determined intervals would be 7.We have seen a number of beach and Caicos Islander is prohibited of Natural Resources among many created and when the subdivision accesses developed by the adjacent from gaining access to the beach. other things. was completed and registered, those property developers. What we have I therefore end where I began parcels that contained the beach seen is that the design is of such a 10.This application make a nonsense in that I am totally of the view that accesses and the roads would be character, that it give the casual of the process of setting aside for disposal of this piece of the beach transferred to the Crown for the onlooker the feeling that the access posterity a beach access that was access is unwarranted, unnecessary benefit of the people of the Turks is private property and the person in private hands, transferred to the and counter-productive to the and Caicos Islands as well as visitors would be trespassing if he tries to Crown, for and on behalf of the rationale for which it was transferred to our shores. access the beach access. people, and not at this time, taken to the Crown. 8.The Tender Notice is deceptive in its away from the very people that it * Cc H E The Governor; Hon. 4.From the time of Adjudication, narrative and it content is different was created for. Premier; Hon. Attorney that there would not be any private in a material particular from that of General; Hon. Leader of the beaches in the Turks and Caicos the proprietors of 60905/16 in that 11.There is no one in this country Opposition
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Teeth Grinding Teeth grinding, known in medical circles as bruxism, is the involuntary clenching, grinding and gnashing of the teeth. About half of us grind our teeth from time to time. Around five per cent of the population, however, are regular, forceful tooth grinders. Often it happens during sleep, but some people grind their teeth when they are awake. The habit of teeth grinding can occur at any age. Most commonly it’s a reaction to acute stress and tense feelings and even children sometimes develop the condition during stressful periods such as after the death of a parent, or if experiencing bullying at school etc. Although it is usually an involuntary action that occurs during sleep, some persons clench or grind their teeth when they are angry, concentrating or feeling anxious. Symptoms & Effects of Teeth Grinding Many persons who grind their teeth don’t realize that they are doing so and are told by their spouses or parents who hear the grinding sounds whilst they are sleeping. As a result of the constant
grinding, the joint of the jaw, known as the temporomandibular joint, TMJ, can become strained leading to pain and limited movement. The jaws may begin to ache or become stiff especially whilst chewing. Teeth grinding can lead to headache and ear pain. There can be many dental effects of bruxism as well. Teeth may become excessively worn with loss of enamel resulting in cracking or chipping to the teeth as well as heat and cold sensitivity. Tooth indentations on the tongue and raised tissue on the inside of the cheek caused by biting may be telltale signs of bruxism. Why Do I Grind My Teeth? The cause of bruxism is multifactorial. There seems to be a genetic predisposition as many persons who constantly grind their teeth have other member in their families who do the same. Psychological traits such as having a high strung or competitive personality or being acutely stressed or anxious all play a role. Behavioral habits like smoking and excess caffeine intake also increase one’s likelihood to grind their teeth. Teeth grinding is common in children. However, because their teeth and jaws change and grow so
Premier Contracting Services is seeking the following qualified technician
quickly it is not usually a damaging habit that requires treatment and most outgrow it by their teenage years. Treatment Approaches Managing bruxism may require a multi-disciplinary approach. If there is any damage to teeth, your dentist will have to correct these issues. This includes broken teeth, addressing teeth sensitivity and so on. A special mouthguard called a bite splint can also be prescribed. This is worn at nights so that the guard is worn down instead of your teeth. In most cases, a bite splint will only help with the symptoms and will not stop you from grinding altogether. Since many persons who grind their teeth have jaw pain and TMJ dysfunction with discomfort on chewing, yawning and even talking, pain killers may be beneficial. Botox can be very useful in relaxing the muscles of the jaw thereby diminishing the ability to clench and put strain on the joints and teeth. This helps with the pain and even has the cosmetic effect of facial slimming. At times, specialist help from a psychologist for talk therapy and cognitive behavior changes techniques can be very helpful if
By Dr. Marsha Barnett
anxiety and stress is playing a key role. Anti-anxiety medications may also be indicated. Of course, a healthy lifestyle with a regular sleep pattern, exercise and relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga can be very helpful. *Dr. Marsha Barnett is a general practitioner who also specialises in dermatology. For questions or comments, please contact her at drmarshabarnett@gmail. com or at Associated Medical Practices - 946-4242.
including fungal •Report to maintenance supervisor weekly •Closely monito water usage and adjust irrigation system accordingly
Electrical TechnicianSupervisor
Hourly wage $8.50 per hour to $9.00 per hour depending on experience. There are no other benefits provided.
Maintain the day-to-day operations and to assume responsibility for maintaining the physical assets of the properties under the direction of Premier Contracting Services Ltd.
Maintenance Laborer
Duties and Skill set required •Provides supervision to the Electrical Technicians and all relevant electrical equipment •Ensures that adequate materials and tools to execute work are on site. Enforce that all jobs reported as well as completed are logged •Check work done by Contractors to ensure Safety standard and Regulation • Ensure power and lighting system is to 100% on site •Inspect and report loss of power from Utility lines such as primary/ secondary cause by fallen switch, open/blown fuse and defective transformer to relevant Utility company/Contractor •Knowledge of Procurement Management and Project Management •Implementation of Energy (e.g. Renewable, Efficiency, Conservation and Management) and Plan Preventive Maintenance Systems •Maintain Uninterruptible Power Supplies (UPSs), Generators/ Alternators, Diesel Engines, Power Transmission, Power Distribution, Renewable Power (e.g. Solar/Wind), Electrical and Electronic Circuits (e.g. Starting Gate) •Installation of Domestic, Commercial and Industrial Wiring Systems • Installation of Control Systems such as Variable Frequency Drives (VFDs) Salary based on experience and qualifications. Staff housing is available. Gardener •Responsible for weeding, pruning, trimming all plants on property •Must have good knowledge of gardening techniques and ability to apply pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers properly and safely •Responsible for the upkeep and landscape of all properties •Ability to maintain and repair irrigation systems •Heavy lifting and laborious tasks •Identify Issues and control issues with soil conditions and pest
•Working knowledge of basic skills to include, landscaping, and irrigation repair. •Experience in painting and basic job preparation through completion •Basic knowledge of welding systems and fabrication •Septic system repairs and maintenance •Assist Light bulb replacement and limited knowledge of electrical systems and wiring •Assist with adhock duties to include for heavy lifting, cleaning, and carpentry •Assist with large cleaning scale refrigeration systems. •Must be willing to work nights, holidays and weekends as required. Hourly wage $8.50 per hour to $9.25 per hour dependent on experience. There are no other benefits provided. Landscape Laborer •Min 3 years’ experience in landscape maintenance •Responsible for weeding, pruning, trimming all plants on property •Must have good knowledge of gardening techniques and ability to apply pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers properly •Responsible for the upkeep and general maintenance of properties •Ability to maintain and repair irrigation systems •Willingness to perform laborious tasks •Self-motivated and industrious applicants need only apply •Ability to follow directions and accomplish everyday jobs promptly Hourly wage $7.00 per hour to $8.50 per hour depending on experience. There are no other benefits provided Deadline for submission of application is July21st, 2020 Please submit applications with references and relative experience to: Ms. Edith Cox Suite 200 ‘Graceway IGA Main Office Complex Leeward Highway or by emailing to maintenance@khcapital.com Please Note: Positionsare currently held by Work Permit holder. Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Immigration Board.
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
Page 17
LOCAL NEWS
Is the new Constitution on the back burner? Since the return of the elected local government in 2012, both political parties have stated publicly their inability to govern the Turks and Caicos Islands effectively with the current Constitution and hence efforts were made by the both administrations to the UK for a new Constitution It is 2020 and elections will be held either this year or early 2021. Politicians will make a lot of promises to the electorate but if the Constitution is the issue then how will radical changes take place. I believe the request for the Constitutional changes need to be brought back to the front line. I know the UK had called elections abruptly which delayed the talks and then subsequent to that was the emergence of COVID 19. However, despite these issues we should not delay our talks on the Constitution. COVID 19 has taught us we can achieve a lot remotely. We do not have to travel to the UK physically to request changes. Some Constitutional issues It appears that the most contentious issue is the role of the Governor in cabinet and the meaning of consensus. As a result of this, a lot of conflicts take place between our
premiers and the Governors. You see the Government of the day may want to formulate policies to make lives better for their citizens but if there are no consensus in cabinet, the Government cannot proceed. This can stifle the Government and make the electorate think they are neglected. It seems what happens in Cabinet must remain in Cabinet. The 2006 Constitution seems to be best Constitution to date where the elected leaders had more authority. Our current premier is being quoted as wanting the reinstatement of 2006 Constitution. Another big issue with the Constitution is the management of land which is no longer under the portfolio of a minister. One big issue the prior administration had was the role of the Chief Financial officer who had to approve expenditure over a certain amount. The Chief Financial Officer had more power than the Governor in terms of approving matters that are financial. Thankfully this role is no longer in place and so our current Government does not have this issue. Another issue is that both administrations had an issue with non- elected officials such as the Deputy Governor and Attorney General having rights in cabinet. Of course there are other
issues but I highlighted contentious ones.
the
Conclusion Governing in general is a challenge. However, it is more challenging when you are unable to carry out your agenda that you campaign on. One of the frustrating things for me in the last two years at Cable & Wireless was the fact that anything over $5000 had to go through about 5 approval levels event though it is already budgeted for. Therefore I can sort of relate to what TCIG go through. It is so easy to criticize the incumbent but when you get in Government you realize that you are in the same boat. If the current Constitution interferes with the governance of our country then I challenge our Government if they have not done so already to engage with the UK for changes to our Constitution. I also challenge the electorate to pressure the Government to do likewise. It makes no sense to elect individuals to represent you if they do not have the power to do so. Furthermore, it should not matter on the personality of the Governor. Our current Governor appears to have a friendly
By Drexwell Seymour
relationship with the Government and the Opposition and I hope this is not the reason there is a delay in the Constitutional talks. We should have laws in place that allow our elected officials to make decisions and govern effectively. We cannot let this one go by before the next general election otherwise we will be in same boat after this election if indeed the Constitution is the obstacle in governing effectively.
•Positive attitude and good communication skills •Ability to build, train and maintain teams Salary range: USD24,000 to USD 30,000 per annum.Position currently held by a work permit holder
RECRUITMENT New positions for upcoming Season – November 1, 2020 Dining Outlets Manager Floor Crystalizing Specialist Housekeeping Supervisor Housekeeping Attendants Exec Sous Chef House Mixologist Kitchen Steward F&B Trainer The Food and Beverage Trainer will be responsible for identifying and providing training to all F&B outlet employees while working with and ensuring that all outlets are achieving their training objectives: Duties and Responsibilities •Provide quality training to all F&B outlet employees •Create and adhere to in-house training plan •Identify training and development needs systematically throughout the hotel in conjunction with Line Managers/Head of Department and Human Resources •Guide and assist Line Managers/Head of Department in achieving training objectives and review on a monthly basis •Prepare, organize, administer and conduct in-house training courses and departmental inductions •Ensure new employees have received departmental and legal training Skills and qualifications: •Ability to work conscientiously, meets deadlines, follows instruction and directions, with minimal supervision and detailed oriented •Minimum 5-6 years in a F&B Supervisor/Team leader/ Manager position •Willing to work long hours in all weather conditions and split shifts •Working knowledge computers and Microsoft office suite with proficiency in excel and word •Good health, well-groomed and with high standard of personal appearance and hygiene at all times •First Aid training is preferable •Committed to delivering high levels of customer service
Executive Sous Chef The Executive Sous Chef will be second in command to the Executive Chef assisting with the overall kitchen operation. He or she will be responsible for the consistent preparation of innovative and creative cuisine of the highest quality, presentation and flavor for the dining rooms, banquets and other food facilities, resulting in outstanding guest satisfaction. •Assist the Executive Chef with planning menus for all food outlets •Schedules and coordinates the work of chefs, cooks and other kitchen employees to assure that food preparation is economical and technically correct and within budgeted labor cost goals •Approves the requisition of products and other necessary food supplies. •Ensures that high standards of sanitation, cleanliness and safety are maintained throughout all kitchen areas at all times •knowledge about safety, sanitation and accident prevention principles •Develops standard recipes and techniques for food preparation and presentation which help to assure consistently high quality and to minimize food costs; exercises portion control for all items served and assists in establishing menu selling prices •Responsible to the entire kitchen in the absence of the Executive Chef Skills and Qualifications: •Previous five star Executive Chef Experience or equivalent experience as Executive Sous Chef. Minimum of 2-3 years’ experience •Must contribute to the Community of the Turks & Caicos Islands by carrying out training etc. •Must have great written and verbal communication skills •Working knowledge of computers and Microsoft office suite with proficiency in excel and word •Good health, well-groomed and with high standard of personal appearance and hygiene at all times •Previous experience working with multi-cultural/multi-ethnic groups •Ability to build, train and maintain teams •Must be able to work long hours and all weather conditions Salary range: USD45,000 to USD 50,000 per annum New Position ONLY CANDIDATES MEETING THE REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS WILL BE CONTACTED Candidates should apply via e-mail at hr@sevenstarsgracebay.com for consideration. Prospective applicants who are Belongers kindly send copies of your to the board and the Employment Services Department. Application deadline: July 15, 2020
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
LOCAL NEWS
Conflicted attorneys
In small jurisdictions such 1.The attorney is in possession of as the Turks and Caicos Islands, information that is confidential or small-town America, Ireland to him and to the disclosure of or the United Kingdom, it is not which he has not consented; uncommon for clients to move from and one firm of attorneys to another. The 2.The information is or may be question frequently arises whether relevant to the new matter in the former client can prevent his which the interest of the other former attorneys from acting against client is or may be adverse to him. his own. The conventional, instinctive response is that an attorney can While the first element almost never act against a former (the possession of confidential client. That instinctive response is information) may frequently be almost always wrong. present, the second (the risk that The relevant principles were that information may be used in a considered by the House of Lords way adverse to the former client) will in Bolikah. The court noted that frequently not be. there was no continuing legally So, the fact that the attorney enforceable obligation of loyalty may have acted for a former client on the part of an attorney to a in the purchase of a property would former client. It concluded that a not ordinarily disqualify him from former client can prevent his former acting against that client in litigation attorney from acting against him concerning an unrelated matter. It only if he can establish the following depends, of course, on the facts of facts – the individual case. A striking example of a case
in which the court has refused to find a conflict is the Scottish case concerning Lady WhitehouseGrant-House. Lawyers gave Lady Whitehouse-Grant-House preliminary advice in an insurance claim. They did not act for her in the subsequent litigation. Subsequently they were instructed by the insurance company to represent it in the litigation. The Scottish Extra Division applied the principles set out in Bolikah and ruled that on the facts of Lady Whitehouse-Grant-House’s case there was no real risk that relevant confidential information might come into the hands of the insurance company. The practical result was that the lawyers who had initially advised Lady WhitehouseGrant- House in relation to the insurance claim were permitted to act against her in relation to the litigation over the same claim. The moral is that each case turns on its own facts. If the former
By David Phillips, QC.
client is unable to demonstrate a risk that confidential information may be used against him the attorney will be free to act against his former client. That will be the case more often than not. * David Phillips, QC, is a senior silk of Wessex Fairchild Attorneys
Update on activities of the NGOS together group Early May 2020, several local charities came together to form “NGOs Together” in an effort to pool resources through funds, volunteers and knowledge and with a goal to provide help to those in need during this COVID-19 crisis in the Turks & Caicos. Since then, we have been working tirelessly to assist as many people as possible. Our objective is to collectively provide assistance without discrimination to those most vulnerable and impacted during these unprecedented times. Working on a first come first serve basis to persons who submit a request for assistance via telephone or electronic form, the group has held weekly distributions to those registered. To date the group has purchased over $35,000 of food, which has been distributed to 1,618 families in Providenciales (Five Cays, Kewtown, Downtown, Blue Hills, the Bight) and North, Middle, and South Caicos. Food parcels are assembled with the utmost care, with recipients’ safety foremost in our minds. Our operational procedures ensure that our sorting location is fully sterilised and all volunteers strictly adhere to food handling safety guidelines. The food parcels are voluntarily given, and voluntarily received. As well as food parcels
NGOs Together has also been collecting food bank donations, reusable masks, and distributing food vouchers. We are extremely grateful to our community for its generous support at a time of such uncertainty. As separate charities we each rely on donations from the private sector and individuals to fund our initiatives, and this group is no different. Despite phenomenal support so far, our funds are limited due to current economic conditions however we continue to look for new initiatives and fundraising opportunities so that we are in a position to distribute even more food packages to families. With growing requests for assistance and referrals from government departments and private sector alike, we currently have approximately 1,500 more families awaiting support. As this number increases and in light of our limited resources, we have made the decision to temporarily suspend the request forms until 2 July, when we hope to have raised enough funds to resume the purchase and distribution of food. To those who have registered, please be patient, we know how long you have been waiting for help and we are trying our very best to get to you as soon as is reasonably
possible. At this time, we wish to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who has supported the initiative and encourage those who are in a position to donate to one of the NGOs Together charities, to please do so as every dollar helps. Let us all continue to do our
part and lend support to those in need. Contact the group on + 1-649348-9015 or +1-649-242-4570 or NGOsTogetherTCI@gmail.com Press contact: 649-231-1454
LS LTD.
LS Limited is seeking suitable applicants for the following position:
LABOURERS Candidates must be physically capable of performing manual labour outside daily which involve grass cutting, tree trimming, removal of brush and weed, general cleanup of debris and garbage from the company properties. Assist with irrigation and small construction installation projects which includes manual trenching and digging. Previous experience is preferred. Candidates must be willing to work holidays and weekends when required. Starting wages: $6.50per hour Please submit applications to: Veronica Rigby, LS Ltd, P.O. Box 124, Regent House, The Regent Village, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands, Tel: (649) 9465126; Fax (649) 946-5191; Email: ronnie@habgroup.com Interested Belongers must also submit copies of their application to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2. Position currently held by a work permit holder. Closing date for application is 17thJuly 2020.
Deep Blue Charters, Grand Turk Wanted: Marine Biologist Applicants must possess; •Masters degree in Marine Biology or related field •Minimum 8 years experience in marine biology, conservation and/or environmental education •Dive Master certification •Proven experience with Caribbean marine life e.g. sea turtles, coral reefs, humpback whales •Excellent communication in English both spoken and written. •Skilled in Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Powerpoint. •Bookkeeping and Accounting experience with Quickbooks •Valid Driver’s License •Proven Multi-tasking, Marketing and Customer Service Skills Three month probationary period applies. Please email resume to info@deepbluegrandturk. com Tel: +1 (649) 243-6096 Salary is $1,700 per month This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interest Turks & Caicos Islander applicants must send a copy of their resume to the Labour Board
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
Page 19 •Ensurethathealthandsafetyandotherstatutoryregulationsareadheredtoatalltimes. •Undertakeanyothermaintenancedutiesasmayreasonablyberequiredfromtimetotime. Salary Range: $30,000 yearly Bartender This person will work with the Food and Beverage Manager and play a key role in providinga positive dining experience. This person will reside in South Caicos.
GREAT HOUSE MANAGEMENT COMPANY LIMITED [SAILROCK] is seeking qualified candidates for the positions below Maintenance Manager This person is responsible for the internal and external maintenance of all buildings and engineering services across the resort in a safe, cost effective and efficient manner, ensuring a high standard of appearance and smooth running for the enjoyment and comfort of Sailrock Resort guests. This person will reside in South Caicos. Responsibilities Include, but are not limited to: •Maintain and improve the interior and exterior fabric of the buildings across the resort to a highstandard. •Maintain services to the building, i.e. water, electricity, gas, oil, to serviceable standard. •Organize and manage service contracts and process associatedpaperwork. •Ensure all electrical equipment is maintained to a safe standard with the minimumof downtime. •Ensure that fire alarms and other fire equipment are maintained to a high standard in accordancewithspecificationsissuedbytheFireAuthority. •Work to reduce energy costs across the resort by ensuring effective energy management. •Maintaintheplantroomandtheemergencygeneratortoa highstandard. •Ensure the maintenance of the swimming pool and spa areas, to meet health and safety requirements. •Manage general repairs to ensure that they are attended to by maintenance team staff as quickly as possible, with minimum disruption to guestservices. •Manage the general repairs / maintenance budget andexpenditure. •Undertake administrative paperwork, required documentation and record keeping associated with the smooth running of the maintenancedepartment. •Recruit, train, and take responsibility for the day to day management of the maintenance team staff throughout the entire employee lifecycle, taking advice and support from HR as appropriate and following and implementing formal company procedures, wherenecessary. •Carry out annual appraisals for the maintenance staff and continually motivate, support and inspire the entire team in their dailywork. •Manage refurbishment and redevelopment projects and the programmed of planned maintenance across the resort and work with the Resort General Manager and other departments to ensure that these projects are carried out to a high standard and with minimum disruption to guests andfacilities. •Ensure that all external contractors working onsite on project work fulfil their contractual obligations. •LiaisewiththeResortGeneralManageronlongtermplanningofthemaintenancedepartment. •Produce a departmental rota to ensure emergency callout duties are covered at all times. •Orderandmaintainsuppliesofmaterialsandequipmentforusebythedepartment,tobudget. •Participate as a member of the Management team, attending and actively participating in weekly head of departmentmeetings.
Responsibilities Include, but are not limited to: •Must be willing and able to work flexible hours, including late shifts, as well as on weekends and on public holidays •Preparing classic cocktails, mixed drinks, wines & spirits beverages, as well as pouring wine/beer •Ensuring of consistent beverage preparation, presentation, and quality •Knowledge of all menus •Complying with all food and beverage regulations •Taking food orders at bar and assisting servers with food service, as needed, utilizing suggestive selling techniques. Salary Range $16,500 Annually Chef De Partie This person will work in close partnership with the Executive Chef to provide an outstanding Food and Beverage experience for the guests of Sailrock Resort. They will assist with organizing and facilitating the day to day operations of the kitchen to ensure consistent excellence in execution and cost management. This person will reside in South Caicos. Responsibilities Include, but ate not limited to: •Work closely with Executive Chef and other kitchen staff to plan and prepare meals and menus •Track and manage, as directed by General Manager and Executive Chef, inventory and food costs •Take direction from Executive Chef about quality of food and menu planning •Continuously learn new skills and techniques Qualifications •Minimum 2-3 years of experience in 5-star resort •Knowledge of and experience in food service •Knowledge of and experience in beverage service •Ability to be on time and present for all scheduled shifts including weekends and holidays •Excellent interpersonal skills •Ability to work with minimal supervision and have a strong initiative. •Ability to perform efficiently and effectively during high volume periods Salary - $16,000 yearly Please submit applications to Human Resources Department: Drop off: W104 Venture House, Grace Bay, Providenciales Email: humanresources@southcaicos.com/swharton@southcaicos.com These positionsare currently held by a Work Permit holder.Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders must also submit copies of their application to the TCI Labor Board.
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
MANAGE YOUR ENERGY USE AT HOME
The coronavirus pandemic is still with us, and is changing the way we live and work. While some of us prepare to return to work, others may still be working from home. And now, during the summer, it’s time to look for ways to save on your electricity bills. FortisTCI encourages you to practice energy conservation as much as possible. • Turn off electronic devices when not in use. • Plug devices into a power strip with an on/off button and remember to switch it off when not in use. • Larger electronic devices like televisions consume a lot of energy, so turn them off when they are not in use and look for Energy Star models when replacing a unit.
Monitor your daily usage with the My Online Account web portal. Sign up at www.fortistci.com, where you can also find more energy-saving tips.
THE POWER IS IN YOUR HANDS.
2017 Winner
Allied Member of the Year
BCMS 681102
www.fortistci.com | 649-946-4313 |
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
BUTTERFIELD MOTORS, LTD.
Page 21
1045 Leeward Highway Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands BWI Phone: 649-339-2277 Fax: 649-339-2286
Butterfield Motors Ltd is looking for an experienced applicant for the following position
Automotive Mechanic Key Functions: Repair automobiles, trucks, buses, and other vehicles. Perform the duties of a mechanic involved in inspecting, repairing, fabricating, rebuilding and maintaining. Mechanic repair virtually any part on the vehicle or specialize in the transmission system. Job Duties and Tasks: •Mechanic coordinates activities of technicians, conducts research and testing procedures and ensures the customer’s vehicle is fixed. •Plan work procedures, using charts, technical manuals, and experience. •Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing vehicles, engines and transmissions. •Examine vehicles to determine extent of damage or malfunctions. •Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. •Test drive vehicles, and test components and systems, using equipment such as infrared engine analyzers, compression gauges, and computerized diagnostic devices. •Perform routine and scheduled maintenance services such as oil changes, lubrications, and tune-ups. •Repair manual and automatic transmissions. •Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. •Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. •Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. Keeping up-to-date technically and applying new knowledge to the job. •Use of computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. •Provide guidance and direction to subordinates, including setting performance standards and monitoring performance. •Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork. Skills: •Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives to repair vehicles. •Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. •Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. •Managing one’s own time and the time of others. Teaching others how to do necessary tasks. •Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. •Bilingual (English/Spanish) •Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. •Conducting tests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. Qualifications: •Mechanical certification from accredited institution. •Thorough knowledge of all vehicle repair aspects including, but not limited to: Engine, Transmission, and Electrical among others. •10+ years experience in Automotive Repair, with minimum 5 years in Chevrolet Brand vehicles. •Mechanical Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. •Service assistant must have extensive practical experience in vehicle servicing and repairs, together with experience in supervising technicians and dealing with customers.
•Proficiency with computers to input necessary data and communicate with management. •Experience with Customer and Personal Service. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. General Auto Body Shop Job Description: Ensuring that repairs in the Service department are performed correctly and efficiently and that the service department maintains a high level of customer satisfaction in the Body Shop. Job Duties and Task -Perform the following repairs or replacements: •Auto body repair mechanic will repair damaged vehicles after traffic collisions and other accidents. They also repaint the vehicles once the repairs are complete. •The auto body technician is responsible for repairing a wrecked or damaged car and restoring it to its original condition. The auto body technician’s job is to remove dents when a car has been in an accident. •The auto body technician also fixes cars that have been vandalized or have become worn due to wear and tear or by weather. Technicians must have the ability to work on a variety of different cars, trucks, vans and other vehicles that need repair work. • Auto body technician should know the correct procedure and the correct equipment and tools to get the job done. He must know how to prepare a car with the correct putty. Masking of the vehicle must be done to ensure that the chrome, windows and other parts don’t get paint on them •Minor electrical system repairs, Surface preparation for refinishes, Minor Cab Accessory repair/replacement, Minor Cargo Box repairs •Maintain work area appearance and safety •Other projects and tasks as assigned by supervisor. Skills & Experience •10 years of related experience (or an equivalent combination of related education and experience) required. •High School Diploma or equivalent required •Vocational/technical school preferred •Certification of completion of technical school specializing in the repair/refinish •Working knowledge of tools of trade (including welding equipment, paint equipment, shop machines, and power tools) required •Body Shop Procedures Certificate •The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an associate to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. The associate must regularly lift and /or move up to 25lbs/12kg, frequently lift and/or move up to 50lbs/23kg and occasionally lift and/or move up to 100lbs/45kg. Specific vision abilities required by this job include Close vision, Distance vision, Peripheral vision, Depth perception and Ability to adjust focus. While performing the duties of this Job, the associate is regularly required to stand; walk; sit and talk or hear. The associate is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and reach with hands and arm Position is held by a work permit holder Salary: From $2,000.00 per month All interested applicants should submit an updated resume by e-mailing csmith@butterfieldmotorsltd.tc & Employment Services Samuel Been Building Airport Road Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands
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JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
Pints poured, unkempt hairdos c T
he pints were supped and the unkempt hairdos cut and styled as England embarked Saturday on its biggest lockdown-easing yet, one that many think came too soon given still-high levels of coronavirus infections and deaths. In addition to the reopening of much of the English hospitality sector, including pubs and restaurants, for the first time in more than three months, couples can tie the knot once again, though wedding guests are limited to 30, and film buffs can go to the cinema. Whatever is being permitted again has to abide by social-distancing rules. Museums and libraries also got the green light, but gyms, swimming pools, theaters and nail bars remain shut. Restrictions on travel and social contact were loosened as well; people from different households can now go into each other’s homes and even stay the night. Overall, it’s the most dramatic easing of the lockdown and one gleefully taken up by those despairing in front of a mirror over the state of their hair. “It was doing my head in to be honest, I’m just glad it’s gone now,” William Brown, a 25-year-old plant engineer, said at Headley’s Barber Shop in Blaby, central England. Owner Stephanie Headley, 35, was equally relieved to be back in business for the fist time since the
full lockdown was announced on March 23. Headley said she was a “bit anxious” and has been inundated with appointment requests since the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirmed the latest easing of the lockdown last week. “I can’t wait to see all the dodgy haircuts that have come out of quarantine,” she said. Though the easing of the lockdown was warmly welcomed by many, there are concerns the British government is being overly hasty, even reckless, in sanctioning the changes. The U.K. has experienced one of the world’s worst outbreaks so far; the official coronavirus death toll of 44,198 is the third-highest behind the United States and Brazil. Critics point to the experience elsewhere, particularly in some U.S. states, where the reopening of bars and restaurants is blamed for a spike in infections as drinkers abandon social distancing after imbibing a few of their favorite tipples. The four nations of the U.K. — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are moving at different speeds out of the lockdown. The restrictions in England, with a population of around 56 million, or 85% or the U.K.’s, have been lifted the most, triggering concerns that the Johnson government is being unduly influenced by economic factors.
A client receives a treatment, at Partridges hair salon in Wandsworth, south west London, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased across the A man enjoys his first bee country, Saturday July 4, 2020. Saturday, July 4, 2020.
A member of the public has a haircut at a barbers in Manchester England, Britain’s Prince William u England, Saturday July 4, 2020. pub in Snettisham, Engla
Newly married couple, Lucy and James Bone, celebrate after their wedding at St Michael and all Angels Church as weddings were permitted to take place in the country with ceremonies capped at a maximum of 30 guests, in Ingram, England, Saturday July 4, 2020.
Owner Are Kjetil Kolltveit from Norway put signs in place instructing on social distancing at the Chandos Arms pub in London, Wednesday, July 1, 2020
People queue outside Northfields Barber as it opens for the first time after the COVID-19 lockdown in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
People sit and drink, outside a restaurant in Soho, as the capital is set to reopen after the lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak, in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
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cut, as England eases lockdown
A member of staff at Solvay Society brewery in Leytonstone pours a beer on A member of staff wearing PPE, stands behind a screen as he waits to serve er on the premises, at the Chandos Arms in London, the first day of reopening after the lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak, drinkers at the reopening The Toll Gate, a Wetherspoons pub in Hornsey, in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020. north London.
uses hand sanitiser as he enters The Rose and Crown and, Friday July 3, 2020.
Members of the pass a sign welcoming people back to Manchester England, Men enjoy their first beers as the Chandos Arms pub reopens, in London, England, Saturday July 4, 2020. Saturday, July 4, 2020.
People enjoy their drinks at the beer garden of the Forester pub in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
People enjoy their drinks at The Black Lion pub in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
People sit and drink, outside a pub in Soho, as the capital is set to reopen after the lockdown due to the Coronavirus outbreak, in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
Visitors wearing PPE stand apart as they view Irises, 1914-17, by Claude Monet, a the National Portrait Gallery, London, as it prepares to reopen following the easing of coronavirus lockdown restrictions across England, on Saturday, July 4, 2020.
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JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
Naked men and drunks: Englan I
t seems to have been more like a typical Saturday night For the most part, people appeared to abide by the rules we’re going to have a few dri than a drunken New Year’s Eve. and rejoiced at the chance Saturday to lift a pint in the and get back to a bit of norm The reopening of pubs in England does not seem company of their mates. but in some places large crowds Health Secretary Matt Hanc to have overwhelmed emergency services as many had raised concerns that the deadliest outbreak in Europe may of people did “the right th feared ahead of the biggest easing of Britain’s coronavirus find fresh legs. distancing rules to stay at le lockdown. But one senior police officer said Sunday it Chris Newell, a 33-year-old courier, traveled to apart from members of anoth was “crystal clear” that drunk people struggled, or ignored, trendy Shoreditch in east London to see friends. measures were in place such a social distancing rules. “As long as everyone’s keeping their distance, “It was really good t
A man takes a picture on the Millennium Bridge as the Shard is lit up in blue in support of the National Health Service (NHS), as the capital is set to reopen after the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, in London, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
A street cleaner sweeps a street in Soho as late-night drinkers continue into the early hours of Sunday morning as coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased across England, Sunday July 5, 2020.
A woman poses with a street cleaner in S the early hours of Sunday morning as coro across England, Sunday July 5, 2020.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Annemarie Plas, founder of Clap For Our Carers, join in the pause for applause to salute the NHS 72nd birthday, outside 10 Downing Street in London, Sunday, July 5, 2020.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Annemarie Plas, founder of Clap For Our Carers.
Campaigners hold lanterns on Westmins care workers who have died due to COVID
Drinkers in Soho congregate, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased across England, in London, Saturday July 4, 2020.
Late-night drinkers in Soho dance on the street in the early hours of Sunday, July 5, 2020, in London, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased across the country.
Members of the public are seen at a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, England, Saturday July 4, 2020. England is embarking on perhaps its biggest lockdown easing yet as pubs and restaurants have the right to reopen for the first time in more than three months.
Men pose for a photo, outside a pub as it reopened, in Borough Market, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased across England, in London, Saturday July 4, 2020.
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TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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nd assesses the reopening of pubs
inks and just enjoy it and try mality,” he said. cock said the vast majority hing” and abided by social east one meter (over 3 feet) her household if other safety as hand sanitizers. to see people out and about
Soho as late-night drinkers continue into onavirus lockdown restrictions are eased
ster Bridge for British NHS medical and D-19, in London, Friday, July 3, 2020.
and largely, very largely social distancing,” he said on Sky John Apter, chair of the Police Federation, who was News. on patrol in the southern England city of Southampton, Police forces across the country said on the whole said it was a busy shift, one that saw officers having to there were no significant issues. deal with naked men, “happy” drunks as well as “angry” “It’s vital that we don’t lose track of how far we drunks. He said the shift “managed to cope” but it was have come and all act responsibly and play our part to “crystal clear” that those who have imbibed one too many minimise the spread of coronavirus,” said Bas Javid, a cannot, or won’t, socially distance. commander at London’s Metropolitan Police.
As part of the National Health Service (NH)S birthday celebrations The London Eye is illuminated blue on Saturday evening, July 4, 2020.
As part of the National Health Service (NHS) birthday celebrations 10 Downing Street, in London, is illuminated blue on Saturday evening, July 4, 2020.
Campaigners hold lanterns outside Downing Street for British NHS medical and care workers who have died due to COVID-19, in London, Friday, July 3, 2020.
Drinkers in Soho congregate, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased across the country, in London, Saturday July 4, 2020.
Late-night drinkers in Soho gather on the street in the early hours of Sunday, July 5, 2020, in London, as coronavirus lockdown restrictions eased across the country.
People enjoy a drink outside the Ferry Boat Inn in Shaldon, England, Saturday, July 4, 2020.
Members of the public are seen at a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, England, Saturday July 4, 2020. England is embarking on perhaps its biggest lockdown easing yet as pubs and restaurants have the right to reopen for the first time in more than three months. In addition to the reopening of much of the hospitality sector, couples can tie the knot once again, while many of those who have had enough of their lockdown hair can finally get a trim.
Members of the public are seen at a bar in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, England, Saturday July 4, 2020.
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CAREER OPPORTUNITY Do you aspire to build a thriving hospitality career at one of the leading luxury resorts in the Caribbean? Are you a self-motivated, talented team-player, interested in joining a dynamic team? The Amanyara Resort invites all suitable candidates to apply for the following position: *DIRECTOR OF FINANCE •The position of Director of Finance (DOF) is critical to the efficient and successful operation of both Hotel and Villas (private homes), having responsibility for maintaining & improving accounting systems, internal controls & processes. The DOF is responsible for ensuring financial results are maximized, through effective budgeting, forecasting and cost controls. •Assume responsibility for all day-to day accounting functions within the Hotel and the Villas, including banking, accounts receivable, accounts payable, payroll, inventory, and cash management. •Lead the accounting team, ensuring all daily operational & financial transactions are prepared accurately and in a timely manner. Hire, train, and evaluate the performance of the accounting team members. •Produce month-end & year-end financial statements and forecasts in an accurate and timely manner, analyzing, understanding and communicating the relationship between actual results to budget and prior year and provide commentary on variances. •Review and continually improve internal controls, processes and procedures to ensure financial information is complete & accurate and to ensure the security of assets. •As an active member of the Management Team, assist the GM & Division Heads in budget preparation, business plans & the gathering of financial data for special projects & reports. Recommend and implement cost savings strategies. Requirements: •Degree in Accounting/ Finance/ Business, and a professional accounting designation/certification or MBA in business are essential. Complete knowledge and experience with hotel accounting systems, USALI, and procedures. •Minimum 10 years of International Managerial Accounting/ Finance experience in the hotel/resort industry within recognized branded properties, and exceptional analytical ability required. •Experience and working knowledge of SunSystems, SAGE, Opera, Micros, Adaco and Advanced Excel skills. •Ability to plan, prioritize & implement effectively multi-task while working effectively in a fast paced and ever changing and challenging environment. •Willingness to work weekends, holidays and long hours during high season and/or as necessary. Applicants may be required to take a skills assessment test. Salary: $9500-$9700 per month based on experience, plus service charge *INCOME AUDITOR •Responsible for verifying, monitoring, and reviewing all hotel revenue, revenue reports and night audit reports in a timely manner. •Responsible for strictly following the laws and legal regulations (ordinances) and stipulations of the third party vendor/consignment/concession contracts and Amanyara internal regulations to assure the correct recording of revenue. •Summarizes revenue and settlement information in a Journal Entry format associated with the proper back office chart of account numbers and descriptions, reconciling the entries. •Preparing, maintaining and distributing Daily Revenue Reports to Management on a daily basis and to Corporate on weekly basis. •Preparing, maintaining and updating reports such as/including Room Recap, F&B Recap, Minor Operating Department, Daily Entertainment Summary, Complimentary, Discount & House Use Rooms Report, Service Charges, Fees and Tips. •Preparing and presenting the month-end Service Charge Reports and Tips Reports for all outlets for payroll processing. Requirements: •Technical and /or Degree in Accounting or equivalent. •Minimum 3-4 years of experience in similar positions in hotel (income and night audit). •Knowledge of the systems PMS (Opera), POS (Micros/Simphony), SunSystems, and MS Office Outlook, Excel, Word, and accounting programs (e.g. SAP, SunSystems, QuickBooks). •Languages: English (daily work language). •High capacity of analysis, planning and organization to achieve deadlines, effective communication and persistency. Salary range from $2500 to $3,500 per month based on qualifications and experience; plus service charge. IMMERSION MANAGER •The Immersion Manager must coordinate, oversee and manage all areas of hotel service in regards to their relationship to the Wellness Immersion Programmes. •The Immersion Manager will be responsible for the training and development of all spa and hotel staff in regards to the Immersion Programmes and will coordinate the delivery of spa services including spa, fitness, Wellness Immersions and Retreats. •Responsible for being the first point of contact for all guests who are interested in spa or embarking on a Wellness program. •To offer consultations and to take the responsibility of all Health and Wellness Programmes for guests and members. •Review pertinent medical history and current diagnosis for all guests and
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
members where and when applicable or necessary •Support and give advice effectively with guests who are on Wellness Programmes, particularly those who would be in need during a healing crisis. •Perform TCM and Acupuncture treatments to an exceptional standard, as per the company protocols and standards taught in training, whilst tailoring to the client’s specific health needs. •Carry out in-depth consultations with each client prior to prescribing a treatment, ensuring that a full medical history is taken and that possible drug interactions are noted. Ensure that no actual medical diagnosis is made unless by a qualified doctor. •Update own knowledge of TCM, Acupuncture, Western Medicinal Herbs and treatment protocols. •Maintain the cleanliness, hygiene, stock levels and presentation of the treatment rooms, performing opening and closing procedures as per company standards. •Maintain effective post-appointment communication with clients via the approved methods. •Hold regular meetings with the Wellness Team such as visiting practitioners and spa therapist team to communicate, motivate and lead the Wellness Team in order for them to be aware of the needs of guests on Wellness Programmes and Retreats. •Identify and recommend new products and product enhancements to remain competitive in the market. Requirements: •A Diploma, Advanced Diploma or relevant Degree in TCM or Oriental herbal medicine from a recognised University or College. •Certified to diagnose the guests based on TCM or Oriental medicine system. •Certified acupuncture practitioner. •At least 5 years work experience in a related position within a luxury environment. •Strong problem-solving abilities. •Must possess outstanding guest services skills, professional presentation and sophisticated interpersonal skills. •Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal. •Able to handle a multitude of tasks in an intense, ever-changing environment. •Computer skills - Word, Excel and MS Office software. •Fluent in English. Salary based on experience: $4000-$4700 per month, plus service charge *GROUP RESERVATIONS AGENT •Takes group reservations whilst ensuring that sufficient information is obtained including arrival and departure details, physical and email addresses, previous Aman stays, contact telephone numbers, dietary requirements and any special requests. •Adheres to the specified Trace system to follow up and obtain any outstanding information for existing reservations •Effectively communicates Virtuoso, FHR and Q-Club benefits to the guests upon reservation, in the confirmation letter, and on the reservation in Fidelio •Maintains an effective filing system for the department, as specified by Reservations Supervisor Requirements: •A college degree holder with at least 2 years of experience in a luxury hotel and expertise in Hotel Revenue Management Systems (SAR), Opera, Corporate Reservations Policies and Planning. •Ability to communicate with high profile individuals, effectively multi-task and arrange all events and special demands Salary based on experience: $2000-$2500 per month, plus service charge *RESERVATIONS AGENT •Takes individual reservations whilst ensuring that sufficient information is obtained including arrival and departure details, physical and email addresses, previous Aman stays, contact telephone numbers, dietary requirements and any special requests. •Adheres to the specified Trace system to follow up and obtain any outstanding information for existing reservations •Effectively communicates Virtuoso, FHR and Q-Club benefits to the guests upon reservation, in the confirmation letter, and on the reservation in Fidelio •Maintains an effective filing system for the department, as specified by Reservations Supervisor. Requirements: •A college degree holder with at least 2 years of experience in a luxury hotel and expertise in Hotel Revenue Management Systems (SAR), Opera, Corporate Reservations Policies and Planning. •Ability to network with high profile individuals and meet their demands Salary based on experience: $6.50 to 10.00 per hour or $1500-$1750 per month, plus service charge *SPA THERAPIST •Provides consistent, professional spa treatments compliant to Amanyara spa menu, standards, and outlined protocols •Proactively promotes treatment bookings, and upsells services to guestsoptimizes the guest experience with treatment and journey recommendations •Makes products recommendations and meets the retail goals established by the spa Requirements: •At least 2-3 years’ experience as a Spa therapist at a luxury resort •Must be proficient in English •Certified in different massage modalities (includes Thai massage) and beauty treatments (facials, hair, nails, waxing) •Handles guests queries and concerns efficiently and politely, providing exact, suitable and instant responses to all requests Salary range from $6.25 to $6.50 per hour or between $1,100.00 and $ 1, 144.00 per month plus service charge.
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*CHEF DE PARTIE •Prepares dishes for guests and associates efficiently, economically, and hygienically as per the standard recipes following the standards and procedures set by the Executive Chef & Executive Sous Chef •Participates in product development and in controlling the smooth operation of the kitchen •Prepares and cooks food in all areas of the kitchen and checks the mis-en-place needed for the day •Ensures that high standards of sanitation and cleanliness are maintained throughout the Kitchen areas at all times and consistently maintains standards of quality, cost, presentation, and flavours of foods. •Participates in the control of food quality,food taste,food presentationand requisition. Requirements: •Must possess a Culinary diploma, knowledge of HACCP, and 5 years industry experience •Must be able to work in a high pressure environment and demonstrate calm and effective leadership Salary based on experience: $1,100-$2,000 monthly, plus service charge. *CHEF DE CUISINE •Responsible for the day to day management and operation in the allocated kitchen in the hotel, ensuring quality, cost control, safety and hygiene standards are adhered to. •Responsible for directing, training, supervising, planning and coordinating within the allocated kitchen including any projects requested by the Executive Sous Chef or Executive Chef of the hotel. •Ensuring quality products for the guests, and secure profit margins while maintaining the corporate image of the Hotel at all times. •Assist in developing and execution of long and short range strategic plans to meet the desired objectives set by the management. •Prepares food as per the recipes for guests, efficiently, economically, and hygienically and follows the standards and procedures. •Always maintains high standards of food hygiene, cleanliness, and tidiness in the kitchen, storage, fridges/freezers and wash up areas. •Works flexibly within the Kitchen area •Prepares various types of Hot and Cold Food related MEP •Works in a hygienic, safe, efficient and productive manner at all times. •Operating profitably a dynamic and efficient kitchen operation through direction of the day-to-day functioning of the Hotel. •Ensuring quality products for the guests, and secure profit margins while maintaining the Corporate image of the Hotel at all times. Requirements: •Minimum 10 years work experience; preferably in a 5 star establishment •At minimum, a High school diploma and a Culinary diploma •International work experience is a plus •Must be proficient in English •Knowledge of HACCP •Must be able to lead multi-cultural team •Diploma/Certification in a Culinary discipline and minimum of 5+ years of work experience in a luxury resort environment required •Proven track record of cost control including food, equipment, labor and wastage to meet the set goals •Very strong managerial, leadership, communication and organizational skills •Must be able to handle multiple priorities on a regular basis •Ability to create momentum and foster organizational change •Proven ability to lead and develop a multicultural team •Must be proficient in English Salary: $3200 per month, plus service charge *HEAD SOMMELIER •Management of the wine list for the entire resort and villa operation. •Provide customized selection of wines for Villa guest and Owners. •Organized and run daily wine operations for all restaurants at the hotel. •Manage daily the bar operation and scheduling of bartenders. •Planning and coordinating wine and beverage activities for special celebrity and VIP events. •Maintain a diverse wine list of over 400 labels with rotating labels based on demand and supply. •Ensuring that guests have available the ideal wine within budget that fits their taste and compliments their food order. •To pair wine and food with our degustation menus and able to explain characteristics of all brand of wines. •Upselling to ensure that wine and beverage sales exceeds targeted revenue. •Build entire wine list in line with our beverage costing as per budget. •Be directly responsible for all bins on wine list (ordering, receiving, storage to serving) •To set, maintain and ensure Aman service standards. •Conduct wine training for entire waiting team in restaurant & bar and maintain wine program. •Responsible for the cigar collection, handling and maintenance of the cigars and humidors. •Conduct monthly stock inventory in conjunction with our finance/receiving department. Requirements: •At least 5 to 10 years of working experience as Head Sommelier/ Beverage Manager within a luxury resort environment. •Proven track record of successful beverage sales in a fast pace service environments. •Must have Sommeliers’ education and have kept up knowledge by attending regularly seminars, conferences, courses and other wine industry related events is a requirement. •Worked with wine lists that cover all the regions represented in wine programs. •The experience of working with a broad set of clientele and the ability to understand their different wine tastes and preferences. •Flexible, outgoing, open minded with a smile. •Ability to perform well under pressure
Page 27 •Team player, team builder and problem solver •Strong leadership, administrative and organizational skills •Knowledgeable to conduct wine workshops Salary range from $3,500 to $3,750 per month based on qualifications and experience. *VILLA CHEF •Prepares and serves breakfast, lunch, dinner and any other culinary requests from guests •Is pro-active in creating and serving specials to upsell meals in the villas •Manages stocks, orders and charges for consumed goods •Provides guests with “the Amanyara” experience •Manages the smooth running of the villa along with the Villa Host. •Ensures that all areas of the Villa are cleaned and maintained to the highest standards including: Kitchen hygiene, Living Sala, Kitchen, Dining Sala & Office, Villa Areas including pool area, ponds & gardens, pathways & walkways and Buggies. Requirements: •Background in Culinary Arts, with a certificate in hospitality preferred •2-5 years of international, luxury resort experience •Proficiency in English Salary: $6.50 per hour, plus service charge *VILLA HOST •Manages the smooth running of the villa along with the Villa Chef •Ensures that all areas of the Villa are cleaned and maintained to the highest standard including: - Bedroom Pavilions, Living Sala, Kitchen & Dining Sala, including the pool area, ponds & gardens •Provides Food and Beverage service according to Aman standards •Sets up the villa prior to Guest’s arrival, ensuring all equipment is in good working order •Organizes special requests for Villa Owners or Villa Rentals; such as Honeymoon turndowns, personal laundry etc. and ensuring Guest History Record is updated after Guest’s departure •Reports any damage or breakage immediately; follows up with repairs •Prepares Annual Villa Maintenance Requirements along with Supervisor Requirements: •Background in housekeeping and F&B with a certificate in hospitality preferred •2-5 years of international, luxury resort experience •Proficiency in English Salary based on experience: $6.25 to $7.00 per hour, plus service charge *BEACH ATTENDANT •Coordinating beach activities for guests such as: Hobie Cats, snorkel excursions, kayaking, stand up paddle boarding •Assisting the beach team with daily beach procedures including, but not limited to, setting up beach lounges, towels, drinks, Beach Club restaurant orders •Interacting with guests about the local environment and culture, fielding questions in regards to the resort and activities, booking excursions •Assisting with Nature Discovery Centre Youth Programs (children ages 3-17) during watersports when required •Maintain a safe and fun environment for all guests participating in activities at all times Requirements: •Must have a passion for the outdoors and a desire to learn more about the natural environment of the T.C.I. •Guest Services experience •Must enjoy working with children of all ages •Must be a strong swimmer and enjoy snorkeling, windsurfing, kayaking, and/ or diving •Boat handling experience •Must be able to work in the sun and on the sand for up to 12 hours •Ability to lift 50 pounds •Strong oral and written understanding of the English language •First Aid Training/CPR; also a plus Salary based on experience: $6.25-$9.00 per hour, plus service charge. *LABOURER,*WOODWORKER Requirements: •Must be proficient in English •Physically fit and ability to perform manual labor •Possess the ability to deliver service aligned with resort standards. Salary based on experience: $6.25 to $10.00 per hour, plus service charge For further information on the above positions please contact us by using the details below. Candidates must be available to work 6 days a week, weekends, and holidays. Positions marked with * are currently held by a work permit holder. However, qualified belongers are encouraged to send a cover letter & resume with the following attachments: Valid Police Record, Passport Bio Page, Proof of TCI status i.e. PRC, Belonger Status Card or Naturalization Certificate. Human Resources Amanyara Resort Northwest Point, Providenciales E: amanyarahrassistant@aman.com Prospective applicants are also asked to send copies to the Labour Board. Only shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.
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ENTERTAINMENT
Kanye West breaks with Trump, claims 2020 run is not a stunt
Kanye West says he is no longer a Trump supporter. The rapper, who once praised President Donald Trump and said the two share “dragon energy,” tells Forbes that he is “taking the red hat off” — a reference to Trump’s trademark red “Make America Great Again” cap. In a story published Wednesday, West also insisted that his weekend announcement that he’s running for President was not a stunt to drum up interest in an upcoming album. Forbes spoke to West from his ranch near Cody, Wyoming, in what the magazine called “four rambling hours of interviews.” West, who says he’s been
diagnosed with bipolar disorder, often referred to himself in the third person and claimed he was “one of the most powerful humans” although acknowledged there were “a lot of alien level superpowers.” He said if he won the presidency, he would model his White House on the fictional land in “Black Panther,” saying “Let’s get back to Wakanda.” West has already missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in several states, and it’s unclear if he has the ability or willingness to collect the signatures required to qualify in others. His representatives Kanye West answers questions during a service have not returned messages at Lakewood Church Sunday, Nov. 17, 2019, in Houston. from The Associated Press.
Rolling Stones threaten to sue Trump over using their songs
Members of The Rolling Stones, from left, Mick Jagger, Charlie Watts, Keith Richards and Ron Wood pose for photos from their plane at Jose Marti international airport in Havana, Cuba. The Rolling Stones are threatening President Donald Trump with legal action for using their songs at his rallies despite cease-and-desist directives. The Stones said in a statement Sunday that their legal team is working with music rights organization BMI to stop use of their material in Trump’s reelection campaign. “The BMI have notified the Trump campaign on behalf of the Stones that the unauthorized use of their songs will constitute a breach of its licensing agreement,” the Stones said. “If Donald Trump disregards the exclusion and persists, then he would face a lawsuit for breaking the embargo and playing music that has not been licensed.’’ The Trump campaign team didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The Stones had complained during Trump’s 2016 campaign about the use
of their music to fire up his conservative base at rallies. The Rolling Stones’ 1969 classic “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was a popular song for his events. It was played again at the close of Trump’s recent rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma — an indoor event criticized for its potential to spread the coronavirus. The music rights organization BMI provides licenses for venues to play a broad array of music and has a catalog of more than 15 million songs that can be played at political events. Artists can opt out of having their music played at political events, and a BMI statement says the Stones have done that. BMI has informed the Trump campaign that if it plays Stones music again at an event, it will be in breach of its licensing agreement, the statement said. Other artists have also complained about having
their music associated with Trump’s events. The family of the late rock musician Tom Petty said that it had issued a cease-anddesist order after Trump used the song “I Won’t Back Down in Tulsa. “Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind, the statement said. “Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. Tom Petty would never want a song of his to be used in a campaign of hate. He liked to bring people together. Grammy Awardwinning musician Neil Young lashed out at Trump in 2018 after hearing one of his songs played against his wishes during Trump’s premidterm campaign rallies. The Canadian-born musician admonished Trump for u
Jay-Z’s Made in America festival canceled due to pandemic Entertainer Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter smiles in between interviews, after a news conference at Philadelphia Museum of Art in Philadelphia. Jay-Z’s annual festival in Philadelphia, Made in America, won’t take place Labor Day weekend due to the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement Wednesday, the rap mogul’s Roc Nation company said it plans to produce the popular festival in 2021. “2020 is a year like no other. We are in a pivotal time in this nation’s history. Collectively, we are fighting parallel pandemics, COVID-19, systematic racism and police brutality. Now is the time to protect the health of our artists, fans, partners and community as well as focus on our support for organizations and individuals fighting for social justice and equality in our country. Therefore, the Made In America festival will be rescheduled for Labor Day Weekend 2021,” Roc Nation said in a statement. This year’s Made In America festival was set to take place Sept. 5-6 at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. Roc Nation said tickets for the 2020 event will be valid in 2021. Ticketholders seeking refunds should look out for an email from Live Nation explaining how to get their money back. “If anyone would prefer a refund, an email will be sent to request one. For any further ticket inquiries, please reach out to the point of purchase,” the statement read.
Lizzo has a message for the man who kicked her out of her summer rental 3 days early
Lizzo You cannot stop Lizzo’s shine.The singer was just trying to have some fun in the sun with her girls when one property manager, apparently, decided to try and throw some shade. “This is for the man that kicked me out of my 7-day rental 3 days early yesterday. This is for mocking the way that I dance and for using Instagram footage of me and my 6 black homegirls to say that we could ‘hurt him’ and threaten to call the police. I know you’re watching my page so I just want you to know you can’t stop this black girls’ shine. Thanks for kicking us out cus this house is better anyways. Xoxo,” Lizzo wrote on Instagram. Lizzo did not identify the rental owner or where she was vacationing. The “Truth Hurts” singer danced while her friends cheered her on, and showed off the new place, complete with an amazing view and an infinity pool.
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Search resumes for ‘Glee’ star feared drowned on lake The search resumed on Thursday for former “Glee” star Naya Rivera who is feared to have drowned while boating on a lake north of Los Angeles, authorities said. Rivera, 33, who played high school cheerleader Santana Lopez in the television series until 2015, went missing on Wednesday after renting a boat on Lake Piru with her four year old son, Ventura County Sheriff’s officials said. The child was found later
alone in the drifting boat and told authorities they had both gone swimming but his mother never returned. “This may well be a case of drowning,” Capt. Eric Bushaw told reporters on Wednesday. Lake Piru is a recreational reservoir about 50 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles. Former “Glee” cast members said they were praying for Rivera. “We need all the prayers
For third time this month, Fox News leads all networks
we can get to bring our Naya back home to us,” actress Heather Morris posted on Instagram. “Glee,” the television show about a high school choir that was one of the biggest pop culture hits 10 years ago, has seen its share of tragedy. Actor Cory Monteith, who played football player Finn, died of a drug overdose in 2013, and Mark Salling, who played Puck, killed himself in 2018 after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography.
Tell-all book by Trump niece to be released next week
A tell-all book by President Donald Trump’s niece Mention prime-time television stars in that has been the subject of a other ages, and you’d think of Jerry Seinfeld, Mark legal battle will be released next Harmon or Jennifer Aniston. Now it’s Sean Hannity week. and Tucker Carlson. Publisher Simon & Fox News Channel was the most-watched network in prime-time television last week, counting Schuster cited “high interest both broadcast and cable, the Nielsen company said. and extraordinary interest” in It was the second week in a row that happened, and the book by Mary Trump titled the third time in June. “Too Much and Never Enough: Before this month, that had never happened How My Family Created the before. Ever. World’s Most Dangerous Man.” June is traditionally a slow month for The book was originally set for broadcast television, its schedule crammed with release on July 28, but will now reruns and game shows. And it has been a very busy arrive on July 14. news stretch that has lifted news programming across the board. The revised date, Still, the star power of Hannity and Carlson announced Monday, came after in the conservative firmament lifted Fox to heights it a New York appellate court had never reached. Each host had four shows among cleared the way for the book’s Nielsen’s top 20 last week, led by Hannity’s Thursday publication following a legal night interview with President Donald Trump. challenge by Trump’s brother. It’s also worth nothing that ABC’s “World The White House did News Tonight” with David Muir averaged more not respond immediately to a viewers last week than any prime-time show on request for comment on the television, Nielsen said. Despite putting on a well-received show release date change. and simulcasting on CBS for the first time, Sunday’s Robert Trump had sued showing of the “BET Awards” had a relatively Mary Trump to block publication disappointing 3.7 million viewers. of a book promoted to contain NBC was second among the broadcast an “insider’s perspective” of networks with an average of 3.2 million viewers in holiday meals,” prime time. ABC had 2.9 million, Univision had 1.5 “countless “family interactions” and “family million, Fox had 1.4 million, ION Television had 1.2 events.” million and Telemundo had 860,000 A judge last week left in After Fox News, MSNBC was second among cable networks with an average of 2.07 million place a restraint that blocked viewers in prime time. CNN had 1.62 million, HGTV Mary Trump and any agent had 1.27 million and TLC had 1.18 million. of hers from distributing the “World News Tonight” led the evening book, but the court made clear newscasts with an average of 8.9 million viewers, it was not considering Simon & NBC’s “Nightly News” had 7.5 million and the “CBS Schuster to be covered by the Evening News” had 5.3 million. For the week of June 22-28, the top 20 prime-time television shows, their networks and viewerships: 1. “America’s Got Talent,” NBC, 8.72 million. 2. “60 Minutes,” CBS, 7.89 million. 3. “NCIS,” CBS, 5.68 million. 4. “Celebrity Family Feud,” ABC, 5.56 million. 5. “Hannity” (Thursday), Fox News, 5.12 million. 6. “Young Sheldon,” CBS, 4.84 million. 7. “FBI,” CBS, 4.71 million. 8. “Hannity” (Monday), Fox News, 4.48 million. 9. “Hannity” (Wednesday), Fox News, 4.38 million. 10. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Tuesday), Fox News, 4.27 million. 11. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Thursday), Fox News, 4.253 million. 12. “Tucker Carlson Tonight” (Monday), Fox News, 4.247 million.
Former “Glee” star Naya Rivera.
This combination photo shows the cover art for “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man”, left, and a portrait of author Mary L. Trump, Ph.D. ruling. The publisher has said that 75,000 first-run editions had already been sent to bookstores. Mary Trump is the daughter of Fred Trump Jr., the president’s elder brother, who died in 1981. She has a doctorate in psychology. “Mary L. Trump has the education, insight, and intimate familiarity needed to reveal what makes Donald, and the rest of her clan, tick,” a release about the book said. The book is expected to include a number of allegations
about President Trump, including how his upbringing led to his worldview and the derision he showed his father after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. The book’s back cover opens with a biting critique of the president: “Today, Donald is much as he was at three years old: incapable of growing, learning, or evolving, unable to regulate his emotions, moderate his responses, or take in and synthesize information.”
Depp severed finger during three-day row with ex-wife, UK court told Hollywood star Johnny Depp wrote on a wall with blood from his severed finger tip during a long and violent confrontation with his ex-wife Amber Heard five years ago, London’s High Court heard on Thursday at his libel case against a British tabloid. Depp told the court he suffered “some species of nervous breakdown” during a row with actress Heard, but denied he had violently attacked her and accused her of cutting his finger by throwing a bottle at him. The revelations came on the third day of Depp’s appearance in the witness stand as he sues the publisher of Britain’s Sun tabloid, News Group Newspapers, over an article in which it labelled the actor a “wife beater”.
The court heard that Depp was in Australia in March 2015 to film “Pirates of the Caribbean” a month after the couple married. Heard had flown to join him from London, where she had been making a movie with co-star Billy Bob Thornton. The Sun’s lawyer Sasha Wass said Heard suffered a threeday ordeal at Depp’s hands in the rented house where the actor was staying after she became angry at him because he had been drinking to excess and taking drugs. Consumed with jealousy about Heard and Thornton, Depp attacked her, constantly swigging from a bottle, Wass said. He slapped Heard across the face, pushed her against the fridge and smashed her head
against it, and she barricaded herself in her bedroom to escape him, the court was told. Wass said at one stage Depp spat in her face, grabbed her by the throat and told her it would be easy to crush her neck. “Fabricated and vicious,” Depp replied, rejecting all the accusations which he says form part of a hoax by his ex-wife. He agreed the couple had a violent row on the final day that began because he wanted Heard to sign a post-nuptial agreement, and he had not been drinking until that point. Depp described the Australian incident as the end of the marriage, after which it was only going to get worse.
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LIFESTYLE Contact tracing is no longer possible across the US South due to rapid coronavirus surges, health expert says Despite hopes for relief this summer, the US is battling the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic -so much so that across the South and Southwest contact tracing is no longer possible, according to a health expert. “The cases are rising so rapidly, that we cannot even do contact tracing anymore. I don’t see how it’s possible to even do that,” Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of tropical medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Monday. The rapid rise in cases is considered a surge, not a second wave, because the infection numbers never lowered to where officials hoped they would, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a Facebook and Twitter livestream Monday. “We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this,” Fauci said. The national case count hits new records almost daily, Hotez said. As of Tuesday morning, more than 2.9 million people had been infected and 130,306 people had died from coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Though Florida set a record for most new cases in a single day over the weekend, Commissioner of the Florida Department of Education Richard Corcoran announced Monday in an emergency order that its schools will open their doors in August. But the state is among at least 24 that are pausing or rolling back their reopening plans for the summer in light of surging cases. “Let’s wait and see,” Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont
said Monday of moving to Phase 3 of his state’s plan, which means the state will keep bars closed and restaurants at 50% capacity. “I know how frustrating this can be, but right now, with this pandemic flaring up in a majority of other states, this is not the time to take a risk.” ‘We are in a free fall’ That flare up can be seen in at least 31 states, where the number of new cases increased from last week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Those states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington state, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Only four states have seen improvements in the number of cases since the previous week: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The remaining 15 states have been holding steady. One of the main drivers behind the nearly 3 million cases now could be “silent spreaders,” or people who are asymptomatic or presymptomatic, according to a new study. The report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, found that asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases could be responsible for half of cases. “We are in free fall,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital. “You see the footage of
HIV Drugs Running Out In Over 70 Countries Due To COVID-19 The World Health Organization (WHO) has found that more than 70 countries are now at risk of shortage of HIV medication because of the spread of COVID-19. The agency described the issue as “deeply concerning” because it could affect millions of people around the world. A new WHO survey showed closure of land and air transportation, reduced operations of suppliers and limited access to health services disrupted the delivery of antiretroviral medicine (ARVs). Twenty-four countries already reported “critically low” stock of the HIV medications, CNBC reported Monday. “The findings of this survey are deeply concerning,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement. “Countries and their development partners must do all they can to ensure that people who need HIV treatment continue to access it. We cannot let the COVID-19 pandemic undo the hard-won gains in the global response to this disease.”
The agency and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS reported in May that limited access to antiretroviral medication could double AIDS-related deaths in subSaharan Africa in 2020. WHO also expects to miss its target population to get HIV drugs this year. More than 25 million people needed antiretroviral medications in 2019 to control the virus and prevent transmission. The WHO survey adds to the growing list of the impacts of COVID-19. The disease already affected more than 11.6 million worldwide and killed over 538,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University. Experts warned that the coronavirus pandemic will continue to bring challenges in the next half of the year. Many parts of the U.S. and other countries remain under some form of lockdowns that limit access to health care, restrict business operations and contribute to growing unemployment.
what happened this past weekend. Along with 1,214 new cases, And people are either naive to the Dallas County, Texas, reported a influence of their actions, or they’re 16% increase in new hospitalizations simply resigned to ignore it.” Monday. After weeks of health officials Dallas County Judge Clay encouraging the public to wear face Jenkins released a letter urging masks, at least 35 states along with the governor to implement more Washington DC and Puerto Rico statewide restrictions as the state have implemented face covering reached its highest number in both requirements to help mitigate the categories. virus’ spread. “Think of hospitalizations as State and local officials test the sickest of the sick, the part of the positive State and local officials iceberg above the water. In order for have been leading the fight against the numbers to increase dramatically coronavirus, and some of them have with hospitalizations, the amount tested positive. of the iceberg underneath the water Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance must grow exponentially,” Jenkins Bottoms said she has “no idea” how said. she was exposed, but that she, her In Florida, 43 hospitals across husband and one of her children 21 counties -- including Miami-Dade, has tested positive. Their cases are Broward, Hillsborough and Orange among the more than 97,000 cases in Counties -- have hit capacity and show Georgia. zero ICU beds available, according At least five California to data released by the Agency for Assembly members tested positive for Health Care Administration (AHCA). the virus, leading the state to close In response to President its Capitol building in Sacramento, Donald Trump’s claim that 99% Assembly speaker Anthony Rendon of coronavirus cases are “totally (D-Lakewood) confirmed to CNN. harmless,” Dr. Boris Lushniak told California has the second highest Wolf Blitzer Monday on the Situation number of cases in the country at Room that the hospitalizations tell a more than 273,000. different story. The Assembly will remain in “Yes, some people recess until further notice to “protect asymptomatic. Yes, some people members, staff and the public from have mild cases of disease. But in exposure,” Rendon added. essence, we also are having a lot of Many legislators have tested people who are being hospitalized,” positive for coronavirus in Mississippi, said Lushniak, who is dean of the which now has more than 31,000 University of Maryland School of cases, said Gov. Tate Reeves. Reeves Public Health and a former deputy has been tested for the virus and is surgeon general. awaiting results. “These are not harmless cases; Rising cases threaten hospital this is not a harmless pandemic. And capacity With increased spread comes we need to be strong enough to begin concerns about exceeding hospitals’ correcting the president,” he said. capacity.
How risky is dining out during the COVID-19 pandemic? How risky is dining out during the COVID-19 pandemic? There is some risk, but health officials say there are precautions you can take to minimize the chances you’ll be exposed to the virus. Ordering takeout or delivery is still the safest option for getting restaurant food, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If you decide to eat at a restaurant, it’s best to opt for outdoor seating where tables are at least 6 feet apart, the agency says. Dining inside a restaurant that hasn’t reduced its capacity or safely distanced tables poses the most risk, it says. The coronavirus spreads through droplets that are emitted when people talk, laugh, sing, cough or sneeze. Indoor spaces are more risky than outdoor spaces because it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation, the CDC says. Diners should assess what
other safety steps the restaurant is taking. For example, servers should be wearing masks and the restaurant should have a process to ensure people are not congregating too closely while waiting for a table, says Dr. Susan Casey Bleasdale, an infectious disease expert at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Digital or disposable menus and throwaway utensils are also preferable, according to the CDC. The agency says touchless payment options, like those available on your mobile device, are optimal. Otherwise, restaurants should have procedures for avoiding hand-tohand contact with cash and credit cards. If you are gathering at a restaurant with a group, Bleasdale suggests only dining with people you know, and checking if they have been feeling sick or experiencing any symptoms.
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LIFESTYLE Coronavirus expert says Americans will be wearing masks for ‘several years’ Health experts won’t even as states start to slowly ask Americans to take off their reopen. masks any time soon. “There’s going to be no That’s the take of Eric summertime lull with a big wave Toner, a senior scholar at the in the fall,” he said as part of Johns Hopkins Center for Health CNET’s Hacking the Apocalypse Security. He has been preparing series. “It’s clear that we are for an outbreak like the novel having a significant resurgence coronavirus as part of his work of cases in the summer, and for years. they’ll get bigger. And it’ll keep Johns Hopkins practices going until we lock things down virus simulations as part of is again.” preparedness protocol, with the The U.S. recently added goal of offering public health about 43,000 positive COVID-19 experts and policymakers a cases to its 2.9 million total, blueprint of what to do in according to the Johns Hopkins a pandemic. One of those University of Medicine. The simulations took place in death total has surpassed October 2019, when Toner and 130,000. a team of researchers launched Toner, contrasting the a coronavirus pandemic novel virus to seasonal influenza, simulation in New York, running said until there is a vaccine, through various scenarios on communities’ best defense how residents, governments to fight it is through creating and private businesses would distance and wearing masks. hypothetically react to the “I think that mask threat. wearing and some degree of One thing that stood out social distancing, we will be to him: Face coverings are a vital living with — hopefully living defense to stop the spread of with happily — for several the virus. He believes COVID-19 years,” he said. “It’s actually won’t slow down in the U.S. pretty straightforward. If we
Patrons Wearing Masks cover our faces, and both you and anyone you’re interacting with are wearing a mask, the risk of transmission goes way down.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top official handling the U.S. COVID-19 response, said recently he was cautiously optimistic that there could be a vaccine for the virus by 2021. For those who refuse to wear a mask in the interim, Toner said they’ll eventually wise up. “They will get over it,” he says. “It’s just a question of how many people get sick and die before they get over it.”
Is it safe to visit the dentist during the pandemic? Is it safe to visit the dentist during the COVID-19 pandemic? Dentists can’t eliminate all risk, but they are taking steps to minimize the chances of spreading the coronavirus. You’ll likely notice changes as soon as you enter the office. Many dentists have removed magazines from waiting rooms, for example, as well as some chairs to encourage social distancing. They also are spacing out appointments to avoid crowding their offices. You may be asked to arrive for your appointment with a facial covering and to wait in your car until equipment is cleaned and the dentist is ready. Before receiving care, you can also expect staff to take your temperature and ask about COVID-19 symptoms. Procedures are changing, too. Coronavirus is spread mainly through droplets people spray when they talk, cough or sneeze. Dental care requires close quarters and procedures that can generate a spray of saliva and water. To reduce risk, dentists are returning to manual tools for procedures like teeth cleanings, instead of other instruments that may do the job faster but create more of that spray. Staff also have started wearing masks, face shields and other personal protective equipment. Some dentists are charging for all the extra gear, so ask in advance if you should expect extra costs. As the pandemic spread earlier this year, dental offices in the U.S. mostly closed, except for emergency care. By the end of June, nearly all offices had reopened, according to surveys by the American Dental Association.
How blood type may affect your coronavirus risk Recent studies have suggested that people’s blood types may affect their risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus or developing a serious case of the disease. Overall, the findings indicate that people with Type O blood seem to be more protected and that those with Type A appear more vulnerable. So does that mean some people can slack off on preventive measures while others need to ratchet them up? Not so fast, say doctors who point out that the findings show associations, not causation — and don’t indicate that any particular blood type guarantees protection. While the findings may catch the public’s attention at a time when people fatigued by the pandemic are looking for signs of hope, doctors say the results are more relevant to researchers trying to better understand the virus. “I think something like this has much more sex appeal than it does real practical value,” said Dr. Aaron Glatt, chair of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in New York. Any possible influence of blood type on COVID-19 appears small compared with the substantial impact of known risk factors, such as older age and underlying health conditions, said Glatt, who is a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “In any individual patient, if they
have risk factors or they don’t have risk factors, that is far, far more important,” he said. People shouldn’t jump to conclusions that they are safer or not because of their blood types, he said. “They certainly shouldn’t walk around high-fiving and saying, ‘I can do whatever I want, I don’t have to mask, I don’t have to worry about anything because I have O,’” Glatt said. “And they shouldn’t crawl into a corner of the world and not let anyone near them because they have A. Everybody should practice exactly the same way, whatever your blood type is, in terms of appropriate masking and social distancing.” Dr. Lewis Kaplan, a professor of surgery at the University of Pennsylvania who is president of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, agreed. Even if some people have reduced risks based on blood type — and the risks vary by study — they don’t have zero risk, Kaplan said. “It might mean they have less risk, but if you engage in risky behavior, we don’t know just how much risk you need to incur to overwhelm whatever potential protection you might have,” he said. “We have no clue.” A European study published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine found that people with Type A blood were 45 percent more likely to develop
severe COVID-19 requiring oxygen supplementation or a ventilator than people with other blood types and that those with Type O blood were 35 percent less likely. The study involved 1,610 patients with severe COVID-19 and 2,205 control subjects. But people with Type O can still get very sick. “They have a decreased risk to get infected and to develop severe disease,” study author Andre Franke, a professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kiel in Germany, said in an email. “However, this is only a relative risk reduction, i.e. there is no full protection. Among our patients who died there were also many with blood group O.” A couple of related papers have been released on the preprint server medRxiv without the peer review scrutiny that published papers typically receive. Studies in China and New York both found that people with Type A blood had a greater risk of coronavirus infection than those with other blood types, while those with Type O had a lower risk. And the gene testing company 23andMe wrote a blog post about preliminary unpublished data suggesting that people with Type O blood were less likely to test positive for the coronavirus than others. Dr. Roy Silverstein, a professor and chair of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin
who is senior investigator at Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, cautioned against putting too much weight on findings that haven’t been peer-reviewed and said more research is needed. “We have to be careful about overreacting,” Silverstein said. Blood types O and A are most common, so the studies were able to draw stronger statistical conclusions about those types than B and AB, he said. An explanation for the findings isn’t known, but there is speculation that blood type may affect clotting or other factors in COVID-19 patients or somehow affect infectivity or immunity. The hope is that the findings can be applied to future research to better understand why the coronavirus affects people differently and to develop treatments. The results aren’t expected to alter how doctors care for patients now. “The fact that you have O or A is not going to change one iota how we monitor a patient,” said Glatt, of Mount Sinai South Nassau. “If somebody has O and they’re not doing well, I’m not going to say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, you have O.’ I would treat them appropriately. And if they have A and they’re doing very well, I would say, ‘OK, we’re going to continue to watch you.’”
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NEWS NEWS
Bermuda Cabinet ministers asked to resign after not wearing masks in public
The under-fire national security minister and the tourism and transport minister were forced to quit their jobs after uproar over a weekend party at a plush restaurant that breached Covid-19 regulations. Wayne Caines, the national security minister, and Zane DeSilva, the tourism and transport minister, left the Cabinet after they accepted an “invitation to resign” from David Burt, the Premier. Mr Burt acted after a party at the Blu Grill and Restaurant in Warwick, attended by the two on Friday night, drew a barrage of criticism for breaches of Covid-19 health restrictions. He said: “The events of this weekend seen widely on social media did not represent this government’s months of struggle and hard work to keep Bermuda safe. “Every citizen has been forced to make significant changes in how we live, work and socialise; ministers are no different. It is this that I communicated to ministers DeSilva and Caines.” Mr Burt added he was “frustrated and immensely disappointed that this incident has deprived the community of two extremely hard-working and dedicated ministers”.
He said both had worked “tirelessly” during the pandemic to keep the public safe and support economic recovery. He added: “Their energy and zeal demonstrated a genuine care and concern for the people of Bermuda. I will remain For ever grateful for their contributions.” Mr Burt, who reshuffled the Cabinet only last month, said he would replace the two in “the coming days”. He added: “Make no mistake, our commitment is unchanged and each day continues to be devoted to doing the best that we can to create opportunities for Bermudians.” The shock resignations came just hours after Craig Cannonier, the Leader of the Opposition, demanded that Mr Burt fire the two ministers. Mr Cannonier said after the pair quit: “It would be disingenuous for me to call for their resignations and not believe it should happen. “Am I surprised? The right thing is the right thing. I called for it because it should happen.” The dinner at the luxury restaurant — said by a Progressive Labour Party insider to be a 57th birthday party for Mr DeSilva’s wife, Joanne — was slammed for a failure to stick to strict Covid-19 health
Sandals reopens more Caribbean resorts Sandals Resorts International has reopened another three of its Caribbean resorts, Caribbean Journal has learned. The company has officially reopened its all-inclusive Sandals Emerald Bay resort on Great Exuma in The Bahamas, along with the Sandals Grande St Lucian resort in Saint Lucia. That also includes the July 9 relaunch of the Sandals Negril Resort in Jamaica. The two resorts join a number of Sandals resorts that have already reopened, including the Sandals Grande Antigua resort and a pair of resorts in Jamaica: the Sandals Royal Caribbean and Sandals Montego Bay. Sandals has also announced opening dates for several more of its properties in the Caribbean. That includes three more resorts in Jamaica: Sandals Ochi, which will open Sept. 3; Sandals South Coast, which will open Oct. 1 and Sandals Royal Plantation, pegged for Oct. 8. Saint Lucia’s Sandals Regency La Toc resort is slated to reopen Aug. 31, while the Sandals Halcyon Beach in Saint Lucia will reopen Nov. 1. And Sandals’ other resort in The Bahamas, the Sandals Royal Bahamian, is targeting a Nov. 1 reopening date, according to the company’s Web site. All of the reopenings have come with Sandals’ new “Platinum Protocol of Cleanliness” health and safety program, which covers all aspects of the guest experience, from check-in to room hygiene to interactions.
regulations after footage of the event was posted on social media. The party was said to be a private fundraiser for the charity Meals on Wheels. But the PLP source added use of the charity’s name was “a deflection, no doubt about it”. Peter Smith, the president of Paget-based Meals on Wheels, said the charity was “not involved” in last Friday night’s bash. The event was organised by Zarabi Entertainment, which said on Friday that $10,000 had been raised. The PLP source claimed that Zarabi Entertainment was operated by Mr DeSilva’s daughter, Zarah, with her reggae artist husband Collie Buddz. Mr Smith said: “Meals on Wheels is fortunate to receive many donations from the community, and we are grateful for them. “Often the fundraising goes without our knowledge and without our being involved. That was the case here.” A notice in the Official Gazette published by the Ministry of National Security last Thursday gave permission for the gathering of more than 50 people for fundraising purposes. But the source said the
charitable motive was a “bait and switch”. The insider added: “It was clearly Joanne DeSilva’s birthday party. “The optics of having a big party when Bermuda is suffering and they see the elite breaking the rules, you have to come out and say this is for charity.” Both ministers appeared to disregard rules on social-distancing and the need to wear masks at the event. Blu admitted last night there had been a failure in social-distancing, but claimed it had happened late in the evening. The statement, from restaurant operator the MEF group, added that the restaurant would close for two days for staff training. Mr Caines and Mr DeSilva did not respond to requests for comment by press time, but the former later apologised to the country. “The events surrounding the charitable dinner have become a significant distraction for the Government,” he said in a statement. “Tonight I tendered my resignation to the Premier. It has been an honour to serve the people of Bermuda as the Minister of National Security.”
American Airlines begins big Caribbean relaunch American Airlines kicked off a major relaunch of service to the Caribbean on Tuesday, resuming flights to a host of reopened destinations across the region. American resumed eight routes from Miami on July 7, including service to Santo Domingo, Santiago, Punta Cana and Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic; Port-auPrince, Haiti; along with flights to Eleuthera, Georgetown, Exuma and Nassau, all in The Bahamas. In the next few weeks, American will be relaunching service to Saint Lucia, Aruba, St Vincent, St Maarten and Providenciales in Turks and Caicos. The vast majority of the relaunched flights will be from Miami; the remainder will be relaunching from Charlotte. “American has a long and proud history in the Caribbean and we are thrilled to continue resuming our operations, flying this month a schedule that includes up to 42 daily flights to 19 destinations in the region,” said Jose Freig,
The Westin Puntacana resort in the Dominican Republic, which reopened July 1. Managing Director for the Caribbean and Latin America. “We are looking forward to safely serving our customers in the Caribbean and to help restart travel and tourism in the region.” Santo Domingo will see the biggest relaunch, with three daily flights, followed by Nassau with two flights each day and the Miami-Providenciales route, which will also operate twice daily. American had already been flying a limited schedule in the region, with flights to San Juan, St Thomas and St Croix.
Last month, American resumed flights to Antigua, Kingston and Montego Bay. The carrier will be operating 42 daily flights to the Caribbean in July, with more flights expected for August. Key: SDQ (Santo Domingo) STI (Santiago, DR) POP (Puerto Plata, DR) PUJ (Punta Cana) PAP (Port-auPrince) ELH (Eleuthera) GGT (Georgetown, Exuma) NAS (Nassau) UVF (Saint Lucia) AUA (Aruba) SVD (St Vincent) SXM (St Maarten) PLS (Providenciales, Turks and Caicos).
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Opposition secures victory as CCJ rules in Guyana election appeal
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – Guyana’s disputed March 2 regional and general election took a step towards the official release of the results after the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) yesterday unanimously upheld a motion filed by two senior members of the main Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), challenging a ruling of the Court of Appeal in that country. The five-member panel, headed by its president Justice Adrian Saunders, said that the Court of Appeal in Georgetown had no jurisdiction to hear the matter that had been filed by the private citizen Eslyn David. “The finality clause in article 177(4) was inoperable and under the laws of Guyana, this court had jurisdiction to hear and determine the application by… [Irfaan] Ali and [Bharrat] Jagdeo and to set aside the decision of the Court of Appeal. “This court was also entitled and required to declare invalid the report issued by the Chief Elections Officer [Keith Lowenfield], which was based on the decision of the Court of Appeal. It follows that the appeal of …Ali and Jagdeo succeed,” Justice Saunders added. The CCJ, the country’s highest court, last week heard the appeal filed by Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo and Irfaan Ali, the PPP/C presidential candidate, seeking several reliefs, including an interpretation of the words “more
votes are cast” in Article 177(2)(b) of the Constitution of Guyana. The Court of Appeal in its majority 2-1 decision late last month ordered that the words are to be interpreted as meaning “more valid votes are cast”. The court also ordered the decision be stayed for three days. The applicants, who were added as respondents before the Court of Appeal, claiming that the decision was wrong for many reasons, including that the Court of Appeal did not have the jurisdiction to hear and determine the Notice of Motion. David had mounted her challenge before the appellate court pursuant to Article 177(4) of the Constitution, which states, “the Court of Appeal shall have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine any question as to the validity of an election of a president in so far as the question depends upon the qualification of any person for election or the interpretation of this Constitution…” In the ruling, Justice Saunders said that the nature of David’s concerns and the issues she placed before the Court of Appeal, “that the questions raised by her did not depend on the qualification of any person for election or on the interpretation of the Constitution. “Miss David’s concerns were really about the impact of Order 60 and about the conduct of GECOM [Guyana Elections Commission]. What the Court of Appeal majority
did was to embark upon an exercise of interpreting Order 60. The Court of Appeal majority considered the effect of Order 60 on the responsibilities of GECOM and then applied that to the clear words of article 177(2b)… which, in fact, required no refinement. “That article, in plain and simple language, has always said what it meant and meant what it said. There is no need for an interpretation of that article or any other article of the Constitution. Accordingly, there was nothing in Miss David’s application to trigger the Court of Appeal’s jurisdiction under article 177(4). The Court of Appeal lack jurisdiction to make the orders that were made. Those orders were not made under article 177(4) of the Constitution,” Justice Saunders added. The PPP/C has said it won the last elections based on the national recount that ended on June 9. But the ruling coalition, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU), said that there were several irregularities and anomalies and wants the polls to be annulled. In delivering the ruling, Justice Saunders said that special leave is granted to the applicants to appeal the decision of the Court of Appeal dated June 22, 2020, the appeal of the appellants, and that the decision of the Court of Appeal “without jurisdiction is invalid, it is of no effect. “The court also declared
St. Kitts and Nevis cautious on border reopening As some territories in the Caribbean and countries around the world start to welcome visitors after closing their borders due to COVID-19, the Federation is discussing the best possible procedures to safely reopen the borders. Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris speaking at a press conference said the government was preparing St. Kitts and Nevis to be ready to engage the global community as soon as all is reasonably well. “That determination of the wellness will come from a number of factors including the council of which we relied upon all these weeks, that is, the health of the people.” Dr. Harris said the health professionals will give the government a sense of the exposure and risks attached to the opening up of the economy. “We are looking at what is happening around us. Some countries in Europe have been determined to open up because either way it is a difficult challenge. We have seen in many of those instances they are forced to close again…because the pandemic had spread in ways they had not anticipated.
“We are guardedly optimistic that some point in the future, having regard to the long period, we have been able to hold the virus in containment, and that the health professionals will be able to come comfortably to the cabinet and make recommendations,” he continued. He said they were actively engaged in regional discussions concerning the opening up of the borders. “Everywhere countries are saying they will do certain things in phases and the context of the prescription from the WHO, ultimately every jurisdiction having looked at the template must determine the national interest. A lot of work is still being done, and a lot of consultation is taking place between CARPHA (The Caribbean Public Health Agency), PAHO (Pan American Health Organization), WHO, and our local health team.” He said the regional professionals are attempting to find consensus on the matter. “The short answer, we are looking optimistically to the day it will be reasonably safe enough for us to open up
Irfaan Ali, the PPP/C presidential candidate that the report of the chief elections officer of 23 June 2020 is similarly of no effect,” Justice Saunders said. Lowenfield had used the Court of Appeal ruling to release his official report to the GECOM in which he removed more than 100,000 votes claiming them to be invalid, and giving victory to the APNU in the disputed election. Justice Saunders said that the CCJ did not consider the issue of costs, but noted “it is prepared to hear counsel on that issue by written submission… within two weeks of today’s date”. In his 30-minute summary of the ruling, Justice Saunders said that “the court reminded itself that its jurisdiction had been invoked for the sole purpose of determining whether the Court of Appeal lacked jurisdiction to entertain Miss David’s application and to make the orders that it made. “Once we decided that the Court of Appeal order was made without jurisdiction and should, therefore, be set aside, there was nothing left upon which this court would possess jurisdiction to make any further consequential orders,” Justice Saunders said.
American Airlines mechanic charged with cocaine importation from Jamaica
A 52-year-old American Airlines mechanic has been released on US$300,000 bail after he was arraigned for allegedly importing more than 25 pounds of cocaine on a flight from Montego Bay, Jamaica in February. The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said Paul Belloisi, an American Airlines mechanic at John F Kennedy International Airport (JFK) in New York, was arrested on February 5 following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) working with US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) at JFK. Belloisi has been charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to import cocaine and importation of cocaine. ICE said Monday he was released on a US$300,000 bond after being indicted by a grand jury on June 18. “As alleged, Belloisi was the ‘inside man,’ moving more than 25 pounds of cocaine from Jamaica Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris. to New York,” said Peter C Fitzhugh, special agent in charge of HSI New York. our borders without risking the “HSI and CBP’s joint efforts continue to overwhelming of the health stem these threats to our aviation industry by which sector and death to our people.” perpetuate the international movement of contraband Dr. Harris also questioned through our airports. HSI will continue to persistently if there was a sustainable market investigate and dismantle these criminal enterprises to open up to. working with our law enforcement and airline “What are you going partners,” he added. CBP Director of Field Operations Troy Miller to be opening up to anyway? Almost all the airlines are going said that “this internal conspiracy case serves as through a period of a great example of collaborative law enforcement reorganization and efforts to combat those that would compromise their access to restricted space and equipment, while aiding reconsideration of routes, and international narcotics trafficking conspirators.” other matters in relation to United States Attorney for the Eastern District safety; and how they are going of New York Richard P Donoghue said “as alleged, to advance the participation this airline mechanic abused his position as a trusted in the marketplace. That is so, employee and his access to sensitive areas of JFK whether in Europe or America or Airport to participate in the clandestine importation of cocaine. in the Caribbean region.”
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CARIBBEAN NEWS Antigua and Barbuda re-examines conditions for entry
Businessman wins Dominican Republic presidency in virus-marked vote
A businessman who The Antigua and Barbuda Government has never held elected office says it has re-examined the conditions under has won the presidency of the which visitors and nationals returning home Dominican Republic, according can enter the island because of the coronavirus to results Monday, ending a 16(COVID-19). year run in power by a center The country has recorded 68 positive left party. cases and three deaths from the virus that Luis Rodolfo Abinader was first detected in China last December and had won about 53 percent of blamed for 516,000 deaths and the infection of Sunday’s vote with most of nearly 11 million others worldwide. the polling places reporting, A statement issued after the weekly topping Gonzalo Castillo of Cabinet meeting noted that the “situation the Dominican Liberation Party, continues to be fluid, requiring nimble and which has governed since 2004. responsive changes in policy after weighing all Trailing far behind was threethe circumstances”. time President Leonel Fernandez. It said that the new policy does not require that Castillo acknowledged everyone be tested upon arrival at the VC Bird “an irreversable tendency” International Airport. in favor of Abinader and “Instead, everyone who boards a flight congratulated him, as did heading to Antigua is required to have undertaken outgoing President Daniel a COVID-19 antigen test, administered within Medina, who was barred by term seven days of their departure. Consultations with limits from seeking a third fourall the pertinent partners have been undertaken, year term. and the new policy reverses somewhat the The elections took announced policy of a week ago.” place as the new coronavirus The statement said that despite the pandemic was sweeping across requirement of the presentation of the certificate the Caribbean nation of some upon disembarking, those whose temperatures 10.5 million people. Abinader show that they have a fever, will nevertheless be himself spent most of the past subjected to testing. month in isolation after testing “Either a Sofia2 Rapid Test or a PCR Test positive for COVID-19 and the will be administered to those showing abnormal vote itself had been postponed temperatures. Arrangements are underway at from May due to the disease. the VC Bird International Airport arrivals area The Health Ministry on to construct more health kiosks so that the Saturday reported the highest process of examination can be quicker and more daily count of new confirmed efficient.” COVID-19 cases, 1,241. The
Luis Abinader, presidential candidate of the opposition Modern Revolutionary Party, greets the crowd while he is surrounded by journalists at a voting center during the presidential elections, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Sunday, July 5, 2020. country has reported 794 deaths from the disease. Voters were required to wear face masks and only one at a time was allowed into polling places, though those outside often appeared to ignore physical disancing recommendations. Abinader, 52, is part of a family with extensive business holdings in the Dominican Republic, including hotels. While he has never held office, he finished second in the 2016 presidential election. Results of voting for 190
congressional seats and 32 in the Senate were not immediately clear. The campaign was notably low key, with none of the mass meetings and street caravans common in previous years. On election day itself, at least one fatal altercation broke out with the polling place shooting of a worker for Albinader’s party. Authorities said two other people were wounded.
You could move to Barbados and work there remotely for a year thanks to a new incentive If you can work from anywhere, would you stay where you are? As much of the world has taken to working remotely because of the coronavirus pandemic, many employees are no longer tied to where their offices are. Barbados is banking on the idea that many people will choose a tropical paradise over their current digs. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley said last week that the Caribbean country was planning to introduce a “12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp” that would allow visitors to stay for up to a year and work remotely. Mottley said the stamp would allow “persons to come and work from here overseas, digitally so, so that persons don’t need to remain in the countries in which they are” — but beyond that, information is scarce. A representative for Barbados Tourism Marketing told Insider that “details on the visa are still being finalized by the Government of Barbados.” The idea is that as short-term travel becomes increasingly difficult, a 12-month stamp would make the trip more worthwhile. It would also bring much-needed tourism dollars to the island. Mottley said on June 26 that Barbados planned to reopen to tourists on July 12, this Sunday, when some air travel is expected to resume. “We will continue to take a risk-based approach to the protection of our country, our people and our
Barbados Beaches visitors,” Mottley said. a test before their arrival will have It’s important to note, to take one when they land, then however, that nonessential travel quarantine at their expense until is still discouraged in many places, they receive the results, which could including the US, where the Centers take about two days. Should they for Disease Control and Prevention test positive, “they will be placed has warned against it. in isolation where they will receive A recent press release from care from the Ministry of Health and Barbados Tourism Marketing said Wellness,” the press release said. visitors from high-risk countries Visitors will also have to (more than 10,000 new cases in fill out an online embarkation/ the past seven days) were “strongly disembarkation form related to their encouraged” to take a COVID-19 test health and face temperature checks within 72 hours of their departure. at the airport, the press release said. Travelers from low-risk spots (with Visitors will also have to fill out an fewer than 100 cases in the past online embarkation/disembarkation week) could take the test up to a form related to their health and face week before departure. temperature checks at the airport, Travelers who didn’t take the press release said.
According to data from Johns Hopkins University, Barbados had 98 confirmed COVID-19 cases and seven deaths as of Wednesday. While it’s still unclear when this welcome stamp might launch, Mottley said: “The government is committed to working with you on the promotion of new concepts like the 12-month Barbados Welcome Stamp, being able to open our borders to persons traveling and making it as hospitable as ever for all of us.” Representatives for the Barbados Government Information Service did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
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Dominica on track to become the world’s first ‘hurricane-proof’ country When a category 5 hurricane makes landfall, few things borne of our civilization can resist the power of the winds and surging, violent waves. Yet the tiny nation of Dominica— which is even smaller than its neighbor Dominican Republic—is on course to hurricane-proof its country after being devastated by Hurricane Maria. The cat. 5 that struck the island two years ago, destroyed 226% of the country’s GDP and 90% of the structures. Describing the project as creating the first “climate resilient” nation, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the UN general assembly in the aftermath of Maria’s landfall, asking for the funds to create such a nation—one that cannot only resist powerful storms physically, but also economically and spiritually. “In the past, we would prepare for one heavy storm a year. Now, thousands of storms form on a breeze in the mid-Atlantic and line
up to pound us with maximum force and fury,” he said to the UN. Skerrit’s plan is to create cities of hurricane-proof structures that won’t leave mountains of debris behind after storms. “The challenges are not just related to infrastructure. Resilience in our view is how vulnerable you are in the first place,” Pepe Bardouille told National Geographic. That’s why they are starting with the building codes. Bardouille is CEO of the government’s Climate Resilience Execution Agency of Dominica (CREAD), and he believes that building a climate-resilient nation starts with every person considering how the planning decisions they make will hold up under winds higher than 150 mph. CREAD has been charged with establishing uniform building codes, geothermal energy plants, a hurricane-proof hospital and healthcare system, and improving public transit.
St. Kitts and Nevis slashes rates for citizenship investment programme
St. Kitts and Nevis Dubai: The nation of St. Kitts and Nevis in the Caribbean has dropped rates for its “citizenship by investment” programme. These modified rates will be available all the way to December 31, whereby families of up to four people can secure citizenship for $150,000, down from $195,000. “In today’s uncertain world it is only right that individuals and families want the ability to travel the globe as flexibly and confidently as possible,” said Les Khan, chief executive at St. Kitts and Nevis Citizenship Investment Unit. The decision comes after St. Kitts and Nevis is looking for ways to stimulate and stabilize its economy and get back on track with the growth the country has had over the past five years. “With visa-free access to 156 countries, [the country] is recognised as a market leader in independent, global rankings,” Khan added. Dubai: The card giants, American Express, Discover, Mastercard and Visa, are beginning technical preparations for global expansion of the Click-to-Pay online checkout based on the “EMV Secure Remote Commerce” standard. These will be in the UAE, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Australia and other countries, with more to follow. Click to Pay aims to make the online checkout secure for consumers across web and mobile sites, apps and connected devices by replacing time-consuming key entry of personal account numbers and information at checkout.
“How to keep a society and economy in a small country with a limited tax base and a huge number of climactic challenges running on a shoestring. Those are the challenges,” Bardouille says. But the Prime Minister’s vision also includes a prosperous ecotourism industry that could replenish the state’s coffers before and after storms deplete them. There is one landfill on Dominica, and it’s nearly full. Cleaning up plastic waste and switching to biodegradable items like bottles, food packaging, and more will be key to CREAD’s strategy of helping the country look nicer for travelers. Plastic trash is whipped around in powerful storms and scattered hither and yon, despoiling the natural beauty of the country. In 2018, GNN reported that Skerrit had enacted a ban on plastic and other debris such as single-use straws, and Styrofoam food items to try and aid in creating the image of a pristine Caribbean island that will
attract tourists with deeper pockets. The following year, the Climate Resilience Act went into full force, and gave birth to CREAD. The economy has since grown by 9 percent. Tourists are back on the beaches, and children are back in the classrooms. A new stateof-the-art hospital opened in August of 2019, while construction around the island has created five hundred new homes with another 1,000 on the way. Described as “The Nature Island”, tropical rainforests filled with colorful birds encircle volcanoes looming above coral reefs and beaches of white, brown, and even black sands—things which typify Dominica as not just a place for margaritas and sunny days in a resort, but adventure and exploration. As with so many countries, Dominica represents a great place for a vacation—and a vacation represents a way to directly and effectively support the climateresilient economy.
Jamaica: Hospital accused of negligence after woman plunges to death The family of 43-yearold Carsha Johnson Sinclair, who died at the National Chest Hospital yesterday after plunging one storey through a garbage disposal chute from the ward on which she was admitted, is accusing the hospital of negligence. Sinclair’s husband, Dave, and her sister-in-law Lorraine Rowe believe Johnson Sinclair was left unattended from shortly after midnight to 5:30 am yesterday, when a nurse, who had gone to attend to her, discovered her missing. Rowe is also upset at reports which allege that her sister-in-law committed suicide at the hospital, and was a COVID-19 patient. She told the Observer that Johnson Sinclair was, in fact, suffering from a long-standing lung issue, in which one of her lungs had collapsed and the other had “hardened”. According to the relative, Johnson Sinclair tested negative for COVID-19 after being rushed to the hospital last Friday by her husband, because of critically low oxygen levels. She said the family felt it was best to seek treatment at the hospital where she had been admitted before, due to her condition. The police have also confirmed that it was not a suicide attempt, but said that the woman was attempting to “escape an isolation ward and fell into an air-conditioning extraction unit”. However, Rowe insisted that Sinclair was not isolated because she had COVID-19, but rather to keep her protected from possible infection from other
patients, given the seriousness of her condition. “She was not a COVID-19 patient. She has had this condition for over 13 years… her oxygen was finishing quickly so her husband took her in,” Rowe said. Information from the health ministry is that up to 3:00 pm yesterday, there was one patient in isolation for COVID-19 at the National Chest Hospital. The upset relative, who blasted reports on Twitter as fake, said one of the side effects of Johnson Sinclair’s medication is that it causes delirium, but that the hospital was lax in ensuring her safety as it appears there was no nurse monitoring the patient overnight. “There is a nurse that monitors her; they were supposed to be monitoring her. She told them last night at 12:30 that she wanted to go to HalfWay-Tree. There is one door in and one door out [of the ward] and there was nobody at all in there with her,” Rowe said. She noted that Sinclair was within view of the nurse’s station if in bed, but that if she went to the bathroom she could not be seen. She also said they found items such as a stick and a glass bottle with olive oil in her room. “She had a garbage bin in there that she could stand on,” her sister-in-law said. Rowe also claimed that the trap door to the disposal chute was unlocked, giving Johnson Sinclair easy access. “There is no padlock… She was delirious, so she opened
Carsha Johnson Sinclair, who was a patient at National Chest Hospital in St Andrew, died after plunging one storey through a garbage disposal chute at the facility. the door and went through. When she [the nurse] realised what [had] happened is when she went there to get her tidy this morning at 5:20… All she saw when she went in was her slippers on the ground. There is a camera inside the room, she can’t even walk for two minutes, she took off the oxygen,” she explained, adding that her sister-in-law’s body remained at the scene until late afternoon yesterday. Johnson Sinclair leaves behind two children, the elder of which is said to have quit her job recently to come to Kingston and care for her ill mother. “This nuh make no sense,” Rowe stressed. She told the Observer that up to yesterday evening, save for an apology offered by a doctor at the hospital, no official apology had been offered by the hospital administration.
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CARIBBEAN NEWS C&W Communications The best hotel in the Caribbean has private cliffexpands its B2B Operations top plunge pools and a stunning secret beach This year’s World’s Best Awards survey closed on March 2, just before widespread stay-at-home orders were implemented as a result of COVID-19. The results reflect our readers’ experiences before the pandemic, but we hope that this year’s honorees will inspire your trips to come — whenever they may be. What does it take to be the best hotel in the Caribbean? Clifftop villas with private plunge pools and outdoor rain showers; terraces with 180-degree sea, rain forest, and mountain views; a secret beach only accessible by paddle, kayak, or swim; and access to bespoke cooking classes, private concerts, rain forest yoga, and night snorkeling. Travel + Leisure readers were not taking the honor lightly when they voted Secret Bay, a Relais & Chateaux property, into the regions’s No. 1 spot in the 2020 World’s Best Awards. Secret Bay’s sustainably sourced villas are made of tropical hardwood and offer airy indoor and outdoor living spaces with floor-to-ceiling windows. Each villa has a gourmet kitchen for use by guests or their private chefs, and villa hosts and a concierge are on call. “This is a unique experience that I have never experienced at any hotel,” wrote
in the Cayman Islands
Secret Bay one T+L reader. “They cater to your every need and you leave feeling pampered, refreshed, and planning the next getaway.” Dominica calls itself “the nature island,” and there are plenty of ways to explore its natural beauty from Secret Bay, including swimming in a sea cave, kayaking, snorkeling, or bird-watching from nature trails that extend from rain forest to beach. The experience is completely customizable — think meditation, yoga, and water sports for a wellness retreat, or massages, sunset sails, and wine tastings with live jazz for a romantic getaway — and expert guides are on hand to
help every step of the way. T+L readers love Zing Zing Restaurant, where fresh, local food meets beach views and there’s no set menu to limit your cravings. A French sommelier has stocked the wine cellar (and each villa’s personal wine cooler) with options from all over the world, and guests are also welcome to dine in their villas or even order a picnic basket to take to one of three secluded beaches. Whether you opt for romance, adventure, relaxation, or all three, chances are you’ll leave Dominica with a deep understanding of why travelers call Secret Bay “a rare gem, truly one of a kind.”
C&W Communications, operator of the Flow, BTC and UTS brands in the Caribbean, today announced the acquisition ofIT Outsource Ltd. (“ITO”), a leading Managed Service Provider (MSP) in the Cayman Islands. Founded in 2004, IT Outsource provides IT managed and support services, cloud backup, security services and enterprise hardware and software solutions focused on clients in the financial services, insurance, government and tourism sectors. ITO prides itself on simplifying the IT requirements of its clients with a reputation for outstanding customer service. Chris Coles, Chief Commercial Officer B2B, in C&W Communications, commented, “The acquisition of IT Outsource represents an important step in the execution of our growth strategy and will strengthen our business by bringing innovative solutions and technologies to existing customers and solidifying our position as the leading provider of ICT services in the Cayman Islands.” Garry Southway, General Manager and Managing Partner, IT Outsource, said, “As the entire world shifts to focusing on how to secure a mobile workforce we aim to expand our portfolio of solutions in the region for protecting people, services, and data – on the network and beyond. We know these are challenging and uncertain times, and we are excited about what this deal means for the expansion and profitability of your business and ours, and that in the process we hope to offer a more comprehensive and secure ‘end to end’ offering and to better serve our clients in the region with new and innovative solutions.” Garry Sinclair, CEO, BTC – VP North Caribbean, said, “We’re excited about the opportunity to expand our business in one of our key markets. The acquisition of IT Outsource will allow us to offer more enhanced IT services to Caymanian companies and businesses throughout the region. This investment reaffirms our commitment to strengthening our ICT services offering and facilitating the regional transition to a digital economy.”
Anguilla Wins Best Island in the Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Bahamas The Anguilla Tourist Board a row — it is a tribute to the people (ATB) is pleased to announce that of Anguilla and the extraordinary for the fourth consecutive year in product that we offer,” declared a row, Anguilla is ranked No. 1 on the Hon. Haydn Hughes, Minister the Travel + Leisure 2020 World’s of Tourism for Anguilla. “Anguilla Best Awards list of the Top Islands offers this amazing combination of in the Caribbean, Bermuda, and truly spectacular beaches, fabulous the Bahamas. Readers rated islands cuisine, stunning boutique resorts on the following characteristics: and genuine hospitality, which Natural attractions/beaches, keep our guests coming back year activities/sights, restaurants/ after year,” he continued. food, people/friendliness, value. In celebration of the 25th Anguilla also ranked #7 on the Top Anniversary, Travel + Leisure will 25 Islands in the World, the only host a global, social media “Toast Caribbean island to make the list. + Post” that will run from July 8 “We are very proud to when the winners are released receive this Award for four years in through August 31. Readers and
winners around the world are officially kick off the celebration, encouraged to TOAST – raise a one of only five winners invited to glass to the very best in travel and do so. then… POST – to take a photo or Each year, for the past video of the moment and post it on 25 years, the readers of Travel + social media, using the hashtags Leisure — the largest travel media #TLToast and #TLWorldsBest brand in the United States, with along with their brands. Anguilla an audience of 6.7 million — share fans are encouraged to post on all their thoughts on destinations, the ATB’s social platforms using hotels, resorts, spas, airlines, cruise the Hashtag #MyAnguilla. lines, tour operators, rental-car On Wednesday, July 8, agencies, and more in their annual at 5:00PM EST, the Hon. Haydn survey. The full results and report Hughes will join Jacqueline about the awards can be viewed Gifford, Travel+ Leisure’s Editor at www.travelandleisure.com/ in Chief, for an Instagram Live worldsbest . interview on @TravelandLeisure to
PAHO adopts emergency measures in battle against virus The Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) says it has undertaken extensive emergency steps in the Americas, including the Caribbean, in response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. PAHO said that it is continuing and accelerating work to support countries throughout the Americas in dealing with the serious health and social effects of the pandemic. It has outlined details of the rapid mobilisation and technical support at the core of its extensive emergency response since January, noting that COVID-19 has now spread to all 54 countries and territories in the Americas, with an estimated five million cases and more than 244 000 deaths reported to date. “The epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic has shifted to the
Region of the Americas,” PAHO said in in countries, risk communication and a new report, adding that the United community engagement, surveillance States and Brazil combined account and rapid response, points of for 75 per cent of all cases and 74 per entry, laboratory capacity, infection cent of all deaths currently reported in prevention and control, clinical the region. management, logistics, maintaining The 77-page report analyses essential health services, and research the epidemiological situation both and development. by regions, including North America, In emergency operations, Central America, South America, and where PAHO has more than 40 years the Caribbean, and nationally, giving of experience, the report states that specifics on PAHO’s response in each the organization quickly mobilized country. experts and equipment to respond PAHO said its regional and to COVID-19 and helped procure country incident management system Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), teams have been providing direct sending 54 shipments to 26 countries. emergency response to Ministries of The report said “these vital Health and other national authorities supplies” for health workers included in vital public health areas since the 1.3 million gloves, one million surgical first alert. and N95 masks, 403 000 gowns and 42 It said specific teams provide 000 goggles for the countries. support that focuses on coordination As of June 30, 2020, the report
disclosed that PAHO has received a total of US$66.6 million in donor contributions and firm pledges and that looking ahead “the fight against the spread of this virus will prove challenging, as countries face an uncertain economic outlook due to global and domestic problems stemming from the effects of monthslong lockdown.” The report warned that underfunded health systems not adequately equipped to respond to malaria, measles, yellow fever and other diseases compound that challenge and that PAHO’s country office teams are working directly alongside government counterparts to develop and refine national plans of action that go beyond the health sector due to the severity of the pandemic.
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New rules say foreign pupils must leave US if classes go online International students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools offer classes entirely online this fall, under new guidelines issued Monday by federal immigration authorities. The guidelines, issued by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, provide additional pressure for universities to reopen even amid growing concerns about the recent spread of COVID-19 among young adults. Colleges received the guidance the same day that some institutions, including Students walk near the Widener Library in Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass. Harvard University, announced that are entirely online. And even for ways to reopen safely. Of particular concern is a that all instruction will be offered at colleges offering a mix of in- person and online courses this fall, stipulation saying students won’t remotely. President Donald Trump has international students will be barred be exempt from the rules even if an outbreak forces their schools online insisted that schools and colleges from taking all their classes online. return to in-person instruction as It creates an urgent dilemma for during the fall term. It’s unclear what soon as possible. Soon after the thousands of international students would happen if a student ended guidance was released, Trump who became stranded in the U.S. last up in that scenario but faced travel repeated on Twitter that schools spring after the coronavirus forced restrictions from their home country, must reopen this fall, adding that their schools to move online. Those said Terry Hartle, the council’s senior Democrats want to keep schools attending schools that are staying vice president. “It’s going to cause enormous closed “for political reasons, not for online must “depart the country or take other measures, such as confusion and uncertainty,” Hartle health reasons.” “They think it will help them transferring to a school with in- said. “ICE is clearly creating an in November. Wrong, the people get person instruction,” according to incentive for institutions to reopen, the guidance. regardless of whether or not the it!” Trump wrote. The American Council circumstances of the pandemic Under the updated rules, international students must take on Education, which represents warrant it.” The international education at least some of their classes in university presidents, said the person. New visas will not be issued guidelines are “horrifying” and will group NAFSA blasted the rules and to students at schools or programs result in confusion as schools look said schools should be given the
Gun violence kills 160 as holiday weekend exposes tale of ‘two Americas’ A six-year-old in Philadelphia, a seven-yearold in Chicago, an eightyear-old in Atlanta, a 15-yearold in New York, all shot. Community cries of “enough is enough”. Neighborhoods in some of the largest US cities erupted in gun violence over the Fourth of July weekend, killing an estimated 160 people and leaving more than 500 wounded from Friday Chicago police investigate the scene where a seven-year-old girl was fatally shot in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago on Friday. night to Sunday. Georgia’s governor, the epidemic of gun violence The shooting death Brian Kemp, declared a state in the city, she ended up of an eight-year-old girl, of emergency on Monday lamenting the children whose Secoriea Turner, in Atlanta, after 31 people were shot and “hopes and dreams were ended Georgia, prompted the mayor, five killed over the weekend by the barrel of a gun”. Keisha Lance Bottoms, to call in Atlanta. He authorized The city’s south and for justice while noting the 1,000 national guard Troops west sides have seen worse shadow such street violence to “protect state property and weekends this year, however, casts over the huge and patrol our streets”. and a one-year-old and a largely peaceful Black Lives But Chicago saw the three-year-old were killed Matter protests against racism worst violence in one of the during recent shootings. The and police brutality. bloodiest holiday weekends rising violence prompted “Enough is enough,” in recent memory, ending Donald Trump to write to Bottoms said. “If you want with 17 people fatally shot Lightfoot and the Illinois people to take us seriously including a seven-year-old governor, JB Priztker, both and you don’t want us to lose girl and a 14-year-old boy Democrats, accusing them this movement, we can’t lose and 63 more wounded, an of receiving more than $1bn each other.” increase of five shootings in special federal funding The shooting happened near on the high figures that had for anti-crime measures and the Wendy’s restaurant where marred the holiday weekend coronavirus relief that was a Black man, Rayshard Brooks, the previous year. “not being turned into results”. was killed by a white police Despite an effort that “Your lack of officer on June 12. included an additional 1,200 leadership … continues to fail “She was only eight officers on the streets and the people you have sworn to years old,” Charmaine Turner pleas from the city’s mayor, protect,” the letter said. said of her daughter Secoriea. Lori Lightfoot, for residents Lightfoot dismissed “Right now, she would have not to reverse limited progress Trump’s letter as “all talk, been on TikTok, dancing on that had been made against little action”. her phone.”
authority to make decisions that are right for their own campuses. It said the guidance “is harmful to international students and puts their health and well-being and that of the entire higher education community at risk.” Nearly 400,000 foreigners received student visas in the 12-month period that ended Sept. 30, down more than 40% from four years earlier. School administrations partly blame visa processing delay. Colleges across the U.S. were already expecting sharp decreases in international enrollment this fall, but losing all international students could be disastrous for some. Many depend on tuition revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates. Last year, universities in the U.S. attracted nearly 1.1 million students from abroad. Trump’s critics were quick to attack the new guidelines. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent, said the “cruelty of this White House knows no bounds.” “Foreign students are being threatened with a choice: risk your life going to class in-person or get deported,” Sanders said in a tweet. “We must stand up to Trump’s bigotry. We must keep all our students safe.”
Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms contracts COVID-19 Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced Monday that she had tested positive for COVID-19. The 50-year-old Democrat is among the women named as a potential vice-presidential running mate for presumptive presidential nominee Joe Biden. “COVID-19 has literally hit home. I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive,” Bottoms tweeted. She told MSNBC that she decided her family members should get tested again because her husband Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms “literally has been sleeping speaks during a Senate Democrats’ since Thursday.” She said the Special Committee on the Climate Crisis only other symptoms she on Capitol Hill in Washington. and her husband have been that has followed a white experienced are those similar Minneapolis police officer’s killing of George Floyd, an to allergies they have. “It leaves me for unarmed Black man, on May a loss for words because I 25. A first-term mayor, think it really speaks to how contagious this virus is,” Bottoms issued a firm plea peaceful protest as Bottoms told MSNBC. “We’ve for gathered taken all of the precautions demonstrators that you can possibly take. on downtown streets after We wear masks, we’re very Floyd’s killing — and urged thoughtful about washing our the protesters to get tested hands, I have no idea when for COVID-19. She invoked Atlanta’s civil rights history and where we were exposed.” Bottoms’ national and her personal experience as profile has risen in recent the mother of Black sons. She months both as a mayor won plaudits from progressives handling the coronavirus after firing Atlanta officers for pandemic and amid the using excessive force during national reckoning on race the protests.
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Trump to US schools: Reopen or you may lose federal funds Determined to reopen America’s schools despite coronavirus worries, President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to hold back federal money if school districts don’t bring their students back in the fall. He complained that his own public health officials’ safety guidelines are impractical and too expensive. Shortly afterward, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would be issuing new guidance next week “that will give all new tools to our schools.” The recommendations will keep students safe, he said, but “the president said today we just don’t want the guidance to be too tough. ” Despite Trump’s increased pressure on state and local officials, New York City announced that most of its students would return to classrooms only two or three days a week and would learn online in between. “Most schools will not be able to have all their kids in school at the same time,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. For a nation that prides itself on its public school system, it’s an extraordinary situation in this pandemic year. With millions of the nation’s parents anxious about their children’s safety in the fall — and their own work interruptions if they must stay home — Trump continued to inject politics into public health. He accused Democrats yet again of wanting to keep schools closed for electionyear reasons rather than health concerns. And he issued a veiled threat to CDC officials over their reopening guidelines, tweeting, “I will be meeting with them!!!” Elsewhere in the nation, many states continued to confront a resurgence of the the virus, which has claimed more than 130,000 lives in the U.S. But safety obstacles in schools can be surmounted, Trump insisted, and reopening “is important for the children & families. May cut off funding if not open!” He did not say what funding he would pull, but Pence suggested at a coronavirus task force briefing that future COVID-19 relief bills could be tied to reopening schools as one way “to give states a strong incentive and encouragement to get kids back in school.” On Twitter, Trump
argued that countries including Germany, Denmark and Norway have reopened schools “with no problems.” Germany did begin to reopen its schools in May, but in many cases students are taking turns going to school and studying at home for half the week — just the thing administration officials have criticized. Germany authorities are aiming for classes to resume in close to normal fashion after the summer vacation. Trump’s Twitter warnings drew backlash from some governors who said he has no authority over schools’ fall plans. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, said officials will reopen when it’s safe to do so. “School reopenings are a state decision, period,” he said at a news conference. “That is the law, and that is the way we are going to proceed. It’s not up to the president of the United States.” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer tweeted, “Our schools & child care providers need MORE federal funding — not less — to be able to safely open.” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has made reopening schools a priority to help parents get back to work, and he said Wednesday he supports CDC guidance to help that happen. Senate Democrats have proposed $430 billion for schools and child care providers as part of the next aid package to be debated in Congress later this month. McConnell, too, has suggested more money for schools will be needed. Trump made his threat a day after launching an all-out effort pressing state and local officials to reopen the nation’s schools and colleges this fall. At a White House event Tuesday, health and education officials argued that keeping students out for the fall semester would pose greater health risks than any tied to the coronavirus. Among those pushing for a fall reopening was the chief of the CDC. But Trump on Wednesday complained the agency’s school opening guidelines were too tough and costly. “While they want them open, they are asking schools to do very impractical things,” Trump wrote. The CDC’s director, Dr.
Harvard, MIT sue to block ICE rule on international students
Pedestrians walk through the gates of Harvard Yard at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
President Donald Trump listens as Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador speaks during an event in the Rose Garden at the White House, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Washington. Robert Redfield, has emphasized that his agency’s guidelines are only recommendations. “I want to make it very clear that what is not the intent of CDC’s guidelines is to be used as a rationale to keep schools closed,” he said at Wednesday’s coronavirus task force briefing, which was held at the Education Department. The CDC’s guidance recommends that students and teachers wear masks whenever feasible, spread out desks, stagger schedules, eat meals in classrooms instead of the cafeteria and add physical barriers between bathroom sinks. Trump did not clarify which of the guidelines he opposed. But a White House spokeswoman later offered an example, saying the president takes issue with the CDC’s suggestion that students bring their own meals to school when feasible. “There are 22 million children in this country who depend on these meals at schools, who depend on access to nutrition in schools,” Kayleigh McEnany said. Democrats slammed the president over his threats and warned him to keep out of the CDC’s work. Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, ranking Democrat on the Education Committee, said the agency needs to be trusted to make decisions based on scientific evidence, “not on President Trump’s Twitter outbursts.”
Colleges and universities pushed back Wednesday against the Trump administration’s decision to make international students leave the country if they plan on taking classes entirely online this fall, with Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology filing a lawsuit to try to block it, and others promising to work with students to keep them on campus. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement notified colleges Monday that international students will be forced to leave the U.S. or transfer to another college if their schools operate entirely online this fall. New visas will not be issued to students at those schools, and others at universities offering a mix of online and in-person classes will be barred from taking all of their classes online. The guidance says international students won’t be exempt even if an outbreak forces their schools online during the fall term. In a statement, the U.S. State Department said that international students are welcome in the U.S., but the policy “provides greater flexibility for nonimmigrant students to continue their education in the United States, while also allowing for proper social distancing on open and operating campuses across America.” The guidance was released the same day Harvard announced it would be keeping its classes online this fall. Harvard says the directive would prevent many of Harvard’s 5,000 international students from remaining in the U.S. Harvard President Lawrence Bacow said the order came without notice and that its “cruelty” was surpassed only by its “recklessness.” “It appears that it was designed purposefully to place pressure on colleges and universities to open their on-campus classrooms for in-person instruction this fall, without regard to concerns for the health and safety of students, instructors, and others,” Bacow said in a statement Wednesday. “This comes at a time when the United States has been setting daily records for the number of new infections, with more than 300,000 new cases reported since July 1.” Universities across the U.S. say the more than 1 million international students have an important place in their communities. Many schools have also come to depend on revenue from international students, who typically pay higher tuition rates. It creates an urgent dilemma for thousands of international students who became stranded in the U.S. last spring after the coronavirus forced their schools to move online. Those attending schools that are staying online must “depart the country or take other measures, such as transferring to a school with in-person instruction,” according to the guidance. “They may have just re-signed leases on apartments ... Our university starts in six weeks or seven weeks. They have been planning to be here, they have already spent money so it’s really devastating,” said University of Southern California lecturer Melanie Johnson. The university last week reversed course on a plan to bring students to campus, saying classes will be hosted primarily or exclusively online. Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., and Rutgers in New Jersey this week made similar announcements amid surging COVID-19 cases.
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Doctors say experimental treatment may have rid man of HIV A Brazilian man infected with the AIDS virus has shown no sign of it for more than a year since he stopped HIV medicines after an intense experimental drug therapy aimed at purging hidden, dormant virus from his body, doctors reported Tuesday. The case needs independent verification and it’s way too soon to speculate about a possible cure, scientists cautioned. “These are exciting findings but they’re very preliminary,” said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an AIDS specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. “This has happened to one person, and one person only,” and it didn’t succeed in four others given the same treatment, she said. Another UCSF specialist, Dr. Steven Deeks, said: “This is not a cure,” just an interesting case that merits more study. The case was described at an AIDS conference where researchers also disclosed an important prevention advance: A shot of an experimental medicine every two months worked better than daily Truvada pills to help keep uninfected gay men from catching HIV from an infected sex partner. Hundreds of thousands of people take these “preexposure prevention” pills now and the shot could give a new option, almost like a temporary vaccine. If the Brazil man’s case is confirmed, it would be the first time HIV has been eliminated in an adult without a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Independent experts want to see whether his remission lasts and for the intense drug combination that he received to undergo more testing. “I’m very moved because it’s something that millions of people want,” said the 35-year-old man, whose spoke to The Associated Press on condition that his name not be published. “It’s a gift of life, a second chance to live.” Transplants are how two
other men, nicknamed the Berlin and London patients for where they were treated, were cured previously. “I’m the living proof it’s possible to be cured,” Adam Castillejo, the London patient, said in a news conference at the AIDS meeting, which is being held online because of the coronavirus pandemic. He and the Berlin patient, Timothy Ray Brown, had donors with a gene that confers natural immunity to HIV infection. Such transplants are too medically risky and impractical to attempt on a large scale, so doctors have been trying other approaches. It’s hard to eliminate HIV because it establishes an early “reservoir” of blood cells where it lies dormant and can’t be attacked by medicines or the immune system. Infections can be controlled with drugs, but as soon as patients stop taking them, the dormant virus activates and renews the disease. Dr. Ricardo Diaz of the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil led a study testing strong and new drug combinations to try to purge this reservoir. “We are trying to wake up the virus” and boost the immune system’s ability to eliminate it once it’s flushed out of hiding, Diaz explained. The Brazil man had been taking a standard three-drug combo to suppress his virus. In September 2015, Diaz added two newer ones to intensify his treatment — dolutegravir and maraviroc — plus nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3 that may help expose dormant virus. After nearly a year, the patient went back to the standard three drugs for two more years, then stopped all HIV medicines in March 2019. The virus has been undetectable in many blood and tissue samples since then. “We can’t search the entire body, but by the best evidence, we do not have infected cells,” Diaz said. The most convincing evidence: Tests show the man has
Sheriff: Man loses arm-wrestling match with son, pulls gun An arm-wrestling contest between a father and son turned violent and led to an 8-hour standoff with Kentucky deputies, authorities said. Curtis Zimmerman, 55, was charged Monday with wanton endangerment, news outlets reported. Deputies were sent to Zimmerman’s home around 1 a.m. Monday. Boone County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Philip Ridgell said Zimmerman was intoxicated when he challenged his son to an armwrestling competition. When Zimmerman lost multiple times, he
became “agitated” and got into a physical fight with his son, Ridgell said. Zimmerman grabbed a gun and fired two shots into the ceiling while his son was going upstairs, Ridgell said. No one was injured. Police did not identify the son or give his age. When authorities arrived, two family members were outside but Zimmerman refused to leave the home, leading to an 8-hour standoff. Zimmerman surrendered around 8:30 a.m. It’s unclear whether Zimmerman had an attorney who would comment on his behalf.
Timothy Ray Brown, nicknamed the Berlin patient, posed in Seattle. lost nearly all HIV antibodies — substances the immune system makes when fighting the virus. Eager for independent verification, the patient said he went to a counseling center for an anonymous HIV test in February. It was negative. “He made a picture of the results” and sent a photo of them, Diaz said. The antibody results are “the most fascinating part of this story,” said Deeks. “These are solid scientists” and “the team may have come up with something that helps,” but it’s going to take verification of these results and much more testing to know, he said. In particular, doctors will want to see proof from blood tests that the patient truly had stopped his HIV medicines. Diaz said all HIV patients in Brazil get their medicines from a government health program and that he verified the man had stopped. “I think it’s very promising. This patient might be cured,” but it will take more time to know, Diaz said. The treatment did not succeed in four others treated the
same way, or in any of the others in the 30-person study testing related approaches. Diaz said he has approval for a new study in 60 patients, sponsored by government grants in Brazil and by ViiV Healthcare, the British company that makes maraviroc. Dr. Anton Pozniak, head of the AIDS conference and an HIV specialist at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, said more time is needed to see if the virus rebounds. “I’m waiting. I’m a skeptic about all of this ... until a couple of years go by,” he said. The separate study on prevention involved nearly 4,600 people in North and South America, Asia, and Africa. It tested shots of ViiV’s experimental drug cabotegravir against daily pills of Truvada, the Gilead Sciences drug already approved for preventing HIV infection. The study was stopped early, in May, when the shot seemed at least as effective as the pills. Final results now show the shot works better — there were 13 new infections among those who got it versus 39 among those taking Truvada, said the study leader, Dr. Raphael Landovitz of the University of California, Los Angeles. “People can stay protected without having taken a pill every day,” he said. “You get a shot and you don’t have to do anything for two months. That’s incredibly powerful.” The results “could revolutionize prevention for HIV worldwide” and give a new option for people who don’t want to take a daily pill, Gandhi said. ViiV has said it will seek U.S. approval for cabotegravir; its eventual price is unknown. Truvada costs $1,600 to $1,800 a month, but what patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance and other factors. With either drug, people are still urged to use condoms to prevent other sexually spread diseases.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro tested for COVID-19, feels well
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro was tested for COVID-19 after having an X-ray of his lungs on Monday. He didn’t say whether he was showing symptoms of the new coronavirus. Brazil’s presidency said in a statement the result of the test will be known on Tuesday. Earlier Bolsonaro, who has repeatedly downplayed the risks of the disease, told supporters outside the presidential residence in capital Brasilia that he is feeling well. Brazil’s Supreme Court published documents in May showing that Bolsonaro tested negative three times in March after meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Florida. The Brazilian leader hasn’t said whether he took any additional tests for the disease since. Bolsonaro’s prior tests were conducted using pseudonyms, as is customary for medical tests performed on Brazilian leaders in order to preserve
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro speaks during a swearing-in ceremony at the Planalto Presidential Palace, in Brasilia, Brazil. their privacy. The president has repeatedly appeared in public without wearing a mask, shaking hands with supporters and mingling with crowds. He has fiercely criticized local leaders’ restrictions on activity and said the economic impact of shutdowns would inflict more hardship than the virus. More than 65,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil.
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Officer to Floyd: ‘It takes ... a lot of oxygen to talk’
As George Floyd told Minneapolis police officers that he couldn’t breathe more than 20 times in the moments before he died, the officer who pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck dismissed his pleas, saying “it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk,” according to transcripts of body camera video recordings made public Wednesday. The transcripts for the body camera videos of officers Thomas Lane and J. Kueng provide the most detailed account yet of what happened as police were taking Floyd into custody on May 25, and reveal more of what was said after Floyd, a Black man who was handcuffed, was put on the ground. “You’re going to kill me, man,” Floyd said, according to a transcript of Lane’s body camera video. “Then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk,” said Derek Chauvin, the white officer who held his knee to Floyd’s neck for nearly eight minutes, even after Floyd stopped moving. “They’ll kill me. They’ll kill me. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe,” Floyd said. Chauvin’s attorney, Eric Nelson, had no immediate comment Wednesday. The transcripts were made public Wednesday as part of Lane’s request to have the case against him dismissed. Lane’s attorney, Earl Gray, said in a memorandum that there isn’t probable cause to charge his client, based on all of the evidence and the law. Gray painted an image of a
rookie officer who trusted Chauvin, a senior officer, after Floyd had been acting erratically, struggling and hurting himself during an arrest. Gray said that once Floyd was on the ground, Lane had asked twice if officers should roll Floyd on his side, and Chauvin said no. Gray also submitted the body camera footage itself, but that was not immediately made public. The transcripts show Floyd appearing cooperative at times but becoming agitated as he begged not to be put in a squad car, saying repeatedly he was claustrophobic. “Oh man, God don’t leave me man, please man, please man,” he begged, later adding: “I’ll do anything y’ll tell me to, man. ... I’m just claustrophobic, that’s it.” Gray wrote that Floyd started to thrash back and forth and was “hitting his face on the glass in the squad and began to bleed from his mouth.” Officers brought Floyd to the ground and, “the plan was to restrain him so he couldn’t move and hurt himself anymore,” Gray wrote. Chauvin is charged with second-degree murder, thirddegree murder and manslaughter. Lane, Kueng and Tou Thao are charged with aiding and abetting both second-degree murder and manslaughter. Lane was holding Floyd’s legs at the time, Kueng was at Floyd’s midsection and Thao was watching nearby bystanders. All four officers were fired. A message left with an attorney for Floyd’s family wan’t immediately returned. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office
‘A hot mess’: Americans face testing delays as virus surges With a cough and shortness of breath, it took Austin, Texas, resident Sam Lee three tries to get a COVID-19 test. The first time, he showed up an hour before the public testing site was set to close and was told they had reached capacity. He was turned away from a second center when rain shut it down, and voluntarily left a third after someone ahead of him said they had been waiting in line for more than three hours. “If you have symptoms and you are just driving around the city trying to figure out how you can get a test, for people who are positive, it is not ideal,” said Lee, who finally got a test on June 29 after he showed up at a site before dawn and waited for more than two hours. Another five days passed before he was able to view the results online, and he didn’t receive a text with the results until seven days after being tested. Four months, 3 million confirmed infections and over 130,000 deaths into the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., Americans confronted with a resurgence of the scourge are facing long lines at testing sites in the summer heat or are getting turned away. Others are going a week or more without receiving a diagnosis. Some sites are running out of kits, while labs are reporting shortages of materials and workers
A National Guardsman directs traffic at a COVID-19 testing site outside Hard Rock Stadium, Wednesday, July 8, 2020, in Miami Gardens, Fla. to process the swabs. Some frustrated Americans are left to wonder why the U.S. can’t seem to get its act together, especially after it was given fair warning as the virus wreaked havoc in China and then Italy, Spain and New York. “It’s a hot mess,” said 47-year-old Jennifer Hudson of Tucson, Arizona. “The fact that we’re relying on companies and we don’t have a national response to this, it’s ridiculous. … It’s keeping people who need tests from getting tests.” It took Hudson five days to make an appointment through a CVS pharmacy near her home. She booked a drive-up test over the weekend, more than a week after her symptoms — fatigue, shortness of breath, headache and sore throat — first emerged. The clinic informed her that her results would probably be delayed.
said prosecutors plan to oppose the motion to dismiss. As part of his court filing, Gray also submitted a transcript of Lane’s interview with state investigators and police department training materials on restraint holds. Gray wrote that all of the evidence exonerates his client and that it is not “fair or reasonable” for Lane to stand trial. Gray said in a memorandum that his client’s body camera video shows the encounter with Floyd from the time Lane got on the scene to the point where Floyd was put into an ambulance; Lane went in the ambulance and helped with CPR, according to the transcript. Lane repeatedly told Floyd to show his hands, and he told investigators he drew his gun at first because Floyd was reaching for something, but holstered it once Floyd showed his hands. Body camera video transcripts show Floyd initially said he had been shot before, and begged police not to shoot him. Gray said Floyd was acting erratically and had foam at his mouth. According to the body camera video transcripts, when asked about the foam and whether he was on something, Floyd said he was scared and had been playing basketball. As officers struggled to get Floyd into the squad car, Floyd said: “I can’t breathe” and “I want to lay on the ground,” the transcripts say. Once Floyd was on the ground, Lane told the other officers “he’s got to be on something.” and he asked twice whether officers should roll Floyd onto his side — Chauvin
Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin, who was arrested for the May 25 death of George Floyd. said no. “Lane had no basis to believe Chauvin was wrong in making that decision,” Gray wrote. Bystanders told officers repeatedly to check Floyd’s pulse, and after Kueng did he said, “I can’t find one.” “Huh?” Chauvin said, according to the transcript of Keung’s body camera video. Lane told state investigators that Chauvin was not Lane’s field training officer, but that he had trained Kueng and was someone Lane had previously gone to for guidance. According to a transcript of that interview, one investigator said it seemed like Lane’s gut was telling him something wasn’t right with the way Floyd was being restrained. “Yeah. I would say felt like it maybe could have been handled differently or we should be reassessing what we’re doing, I think is what I was kind of coming to,” Lane said.
Mary Kay Letourneau, teacher jailed for raping student, dies Mary Kay Letourneau, a teacher who married her former sixth-grade student after she was convicted of raping him in a case that drew international headlines, has died. She was 58. Her lawyer David Gehrke told The Associated Press that Letourneau died Monday, not Tuesday as previously reported. Letourneau had been living in the Seattle suburb of Des Moines and died of advanced colon cancer, Gehrke said. Letourneau was a married mother of four in 1996 when she taught 12-year-old Vili Fualaau in her class at Shorewood Elementary in Burien, a south Seattle suburb. Police discovered them about 1:20 a.m. on June 19, 1996, parked in a minivan at the Des Moines Marina. Letourneau, then 34, initially told officers the boy was 18, raising suspicions that something sexual was going on. At the police station, Fualaau and Letourneau denied there had been any “touching.” They claimed Letourneau had been babysitting the boy, and took him from her home after she and her husband had a fight. About two months later, the evidence was undeniable: Letourneau was pregnant. They had a daughter — and then, later, another one, conceived in 1998, after Letourneau had pleaded guilty
Mary Kay Letourneau to child rape but before she began serving a 7 1/2-year prison term. Letourneau and Fualaau married on May 20, 2005, in Woodinville, Washington, after her release. Fualaau and Letourneau characterized their relationship as one of love at that point, even writing a book together — “Un Seul Crime, L’Amour,” or “Only One Crime, Love.” Their story became the subject of a USA Network movie, “All American Girl.” But it didn’t last a lifetime: King County court records show Fualaau asked for a legal separation from Letourneau on May 9, 2017.
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OPEN JOB POSITION DATE OPEN: July 02, 2020 START DATE: ASAP POSITION: Kids Town Counselor PROPERTY: West Bay Club Job Overview: The Kids Town Counselor is responsible for leading and implementing different programs and experiences for children in an individual and small group setting. They will also be responsible for the general safety and entertainment of the participants in his/her group. The candidate will provide high quality outdoor educational and recreational experiences for participants that focus on during their time spent at the Kids Town. Shifts varies. Full time. Weekend and holiday work may be required. Qualifications: •Ability to lead, plan, organize, and implement program activities. •Ability to work as a member of a team and the ability to accomplish tasks with little direct supervision. •Strong organizational and communication skills. Physical Demands: •Must have the physical ability to lead and participate in camp activities which include, but are not limited to, watersport activities, swimming, team building initiatives and physical games •Must have the ability to restrain and physically support children when needed for safety in general activities This position is currently held by an expatriate worker Qualified Islanders need only to apply copying applications to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2 Salary Range: $8.50 - $9.00 per hour DATE OPEN: July 02, 2020 POSITION: Carpenter
START DATE: ASAP
PROPERTY: West Bay Club
Job Overview: A finishing carpenter’s main responsibilities would be to add more detailed components and artistry to wood projects being worked on by the Engineering Department. They would be responsible for ensuring that the all carpentry projects meet the standards of the organization and adhere to a strict health and safety codes and regulations. Responsibilities: •Responsible for repairing all types of wooden furniture and cabinets •Able to maintain cabinet hardware and replace them as needed •Can build other wooden structures (e.g. umbrella and shoe racks; garbage bins; temporary and permanent assets etc.) Requirements: •A minimum of 5 years’ experience as a carpenter or cabinet maker •A minimum of an undergraduate degree in Engineering or an equivalent of vocational training •Hotel industry experience preferred •Ability to work independently as well as on a team •Must be creative and able to think outside of the traditional box •Must be able to communicate efficiently, both written and verbally, in English
This position is currently held by an expatriate worker Qualified Islanders need only to apply copying applications to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2 Salary Range: $10.00 - $10.50 DATE OPEN: July 02, 2020
START DATE: ASAP
POSITION: Kitchen Steward PROPERTY: West Bay Club Job Overview: Transport and clean cooking utensils and service ware in order to provide cooks, bus persons and food and food servers with appropriate equipment for guests’ dining experience, also clean physical surroundings while caring enough to do it well by adhering to the hotel standards, A few of their duties would entail promptly and carefully sorting soiled ware so that it can be put through the dish or pot machine properly; quickly washing ware and replacing them in storage areas as designated and ensuring the dish machine is properly cleaned and filled with water per hotel standards. Shifts varies. Full time. Weekend and holiday work may be required. This position is currently held by an expatriate worker Qualified Islanders need only to apply copying applications to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2 Salary Range: $8.00 - $8.50 per hour DATE OPEN: July 02, 2020 POSITION: Plumber
START DATE: ASAP
PROPERTY: West Bay Club
Job Requirements: Engineering course, undergraduate or vocational school graduate with good verbal and written communication skills. Must have at least 7 years work experience in engineering/ plumbing equipment operations and maintenance gained in hospitality or other industries. •Working knowledge of mechanical equipment and plumbing trouble shooting •Working knowledge of swimming pool operation and water chemistry •Working knowledge of sewage treatment plant operation and maintenance •Knowledge of computers and its peripherals •Planning and executing preventative maintenance of suites and equipment within •Knowledge of Operational Health and Safety Standards •Knowledge of industry storekeeping procedures •Must be computer literate and technology savvy, particularly for ordering and follow up processes •Must be familiar with electrical, plumbing and mechanical parts This position is currently held by an expatriate worker Qualified Islanders need only to apply copying applications to the Commissioner of Labour & Work Permit Board Zone 2 Salary Range: $35,000 - $45,000 per annum Interested persons can contact our Human Resources Department no later than July 7, 2020 @ (649) 946-5050 Ext. 1020 Email: humanresources@gracebayclub.com Fax: (649) 946-5758 P.O. Box 128 Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands, British West Indies
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BUTTERFIELD MOTORS, LTD.
1045 Leeward Highway Providenciales Turks and Caicos Islands BWI Phone: 649-339-2277 Fax: 649-339-2286
Butterfield Motors Ltd is looking for an experienced applicant for the following position Automotive Electrical Mechanic Key Functions: Repair automobiles, trucks, buses, and other vehicles. Perform the duties of an Automotive Electrical Mechanic involved in the electrical and mechanical inspection, repair, fabrication, troubleshoot, building and maintaining. Suitable applicant must specialize in electrical auto mechanics. Have the ability to repair General Motors brand vehicles and other brands. Job Duties and Tasks: •Duties will include installing and repairing electrical wiring. •Diagnosing problems with vehicle electrical systems. •Repairing damaged electrical parts, and maintaining electrical equipment for vehicles. •Installing new vehicle wiring systems. •Installing and troubleshooting immobilizer and alarm systems. •Diagnosing electrical issues and proposing a course of action. •Providing service advisors with estimated time and cost for repairs. •Repairing and replacing faulty wiring or electrical systems. •Servicing of electrical automotive parts. •Mechanic coordinates activities of technicians conduct research and testing procedures and ensure the customer’s vehicle is fixed. •Plan work procedures, using charts, technical manuals, and experience. •Servicing, repairing, adjusting, and testing vehicles, engines and transmissions. •Examine vehicles to determine the extent of damage or malfunctions. •Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems. •Test drive vehicles, and test components and systems, using equipment such as infrared engine analyzers, compression gauges, and computerized diagnostic devices. •Perform routine and scheduled maintenance services such as oil changes, lubrications, and tune-ups. •Repair manual and automatic transmissions. •Using computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information. •Estimating sizes, distances, and quantities; or determining time, costs, resources, or materials needed to perform a work activity. •Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work. Keeping up-todate technically and applying new knowledge to the job. •Provide guidance and assistant to auto mechanics. •Reading and interpreting electrical and electronic circuit blueprints, diagrams, and schematics. •Advising management on continued use of unsuitable diagnostic equipment, appliances, and apparatus. •Performing day-to-day administrative tasks such as maintaining information files and processing paperwork.
•Complete all necessary documents, including vehicle records •Maintain cleanliness in areas of work Skills: •Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternatives to repair vehicles. •Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions. •Performing routine maintenance on equipment and determining when and what kind of maintenance is needed. •Managing one’s own time and the time of others. Teaching others how to do necessary tasks. •Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one. •Bilingual (must be fluent in English) •Watching gauges, dials, or other indicators to make sure a machine is working properly. •Conductingtests and inspections of products, services, or processes to evaluate quality or performance. Qualifications: •Mechanical certification from an accredited institution. •Must have a valid Driver’s License. •Thorough knowledge of all vehicle repair aspects including, but not limited to Engine, Transmission, and Electrical among others. •10+ years’ experience in Automotive Repair, with a minimum of 5 years in Chevrolet Brand vehicles. •MechanicalKnowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance. •Service assistant must have extensive practical experience in vehicle servicing and repairs, together with experience in supervising technicians and dealing with customers. •Proven work experience as an Auto Electrician. •Advanced knowledge of modern vehicular electrical systems and intricate electrical systems. •Ability to operate electrical diagnostic equipment. •Good communication skills. •Ability to work standing or in a crouched position for long periods. •Ability to distinguish subtle colour variation. •Proficiency with computers to input necessary data and communicate with management. •Experience with Customer and Personal Service. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction. Competitive Salary commensurate with work experience and qualifications. All interested applicants should submit an updated resume by e-mailingcsmith@butterfieldmotorsltd.tc Employment Service Samuel Been Building Airport Road Providenciales
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Turks and Caicos Islands Sports Commission GustarvusLightbourne Sports Complex, Providenciales Turks & Caicos Islands, British West Indies Telephone Land (649)338-7704
JOB VACANCIES DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SPORTS JOB SUMMARY: The Deputy Director leads the management of the Sports Commission. The individual has responsibility for the human resources function including recruitment and selection, industrial relations, organizational design and development, training and development. The individual also leads performance management including monitoring and evaluation. The individual also prepares management reports for upward submission. The job is based in Providenciales, Key Duties and Responsibilities: 1.Manages the staff of the Sports Commission. 2.Sits on the Executive Team for the administration of Sports. 3.Acts for the Director – Sports in their absence. 4.Responsible for the Human Resources function including recruitment and selection, industrial relations, organizational design and development, training and development. 5.Responsible for the development and implementation of performance management for the Sports Commission. 6.Leads monitoring and evaluation in the Sports Commission. 7.Roles out the Strategic Plan implementation for their areas of responsibility to ensure the effective implementation of Government’s sports development policies. 8.Assists Quality Staff Assessment and Review. 9.Prepares corporate reports for upward submission. Knowledge and Skills: Applicants should be able to demonstrate: •Good experience and excellent knowledge in financial and people management skills. •A track record in planning, programme development, implementation and evaluation. •Good written and verbal communication skills. •Good knowledge of the Strategic Planning process. •Negotiation and leadership skills. •Public Relation Skills. •A good knowledge of sports issues, including priorities and activities. •Some understanding of the diverse cultures in the TCI, and its social and political realities. •Good IT skills including, Microsoft Office Suite, email and internet research. •A commitment to working with teams representing the diversity of ethnic, religious, racial and cultural components of the Turks & Caicos Islands. Qualifications: •The position requires a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management, Sports Management or a related area (essential). An MBA is preferred. •Human Resource Management certification is desirable Experience: •At least 5 - 7 years’ experience in administration. •At least 5 years’ experience at a supervisory level. •Experience in managing staff and resources. •Experience in human resource planning, recruitment, industrial relations and training and development. •Experience in project management. Any combination of relevant qualifications and experience will be assessed for suitability SALARY: $78,875 per annum plus relevant allowances
Financial Controller has a responsibility for compliance with the TCI Public Service budgetary and financial policy such as revenue generation, cost containment and delivery of other budget targets. (S)he will provide advice to the Director and Deputy Director on financial matters and ensure that the Sport Commission’s financial and budgeting system, procedures, practices and controls are appropriate, robust and fit-for-purpose. The job is based in Providenciales, Key Duties and Responsibilities: 1. Accountable for the prudent management, investment, disbursement, safety and transparency of expenditure of the Sports Commission funds. 2. Develops and ensures that the Sport Commission’s financial and budgeting system, procedures, practices and controls are appropriate, robust and fit-for-purpose. 3. Responds to queries from the Public Accounts Committee. 4. Leads on the expenditure and revenue phasing of budget. 5.Provides expert advice on revenue investment strategies. 6.Monitors the level of outstanding invoices for the Sports Commission. 7.Assists with the preparation of budget forecast for the Sports Commission. 8.Advises the Director and the Deputy Director on application of policy. 9.Ensures accurate recording of receipts, payments and income. 10.Prepares monthly management reports. 11.Audits, monitors and ensures that support staff use correct financial procedures. 12.Develops mechanisms to manage and monitor income and expenditure. 13.Analyses the Sports Commission’s budget for feasibility. 14.Advises departments on budget adjustment and amendments. 15.Adheres to the Public Service codes, rules and regulations. 16.Performs other related tasks as assigned. Knowledge and Skills: •Excellent budgetary planning and control knowledge •Management Information Systems knowledge •Sound investment knowledge •Good auditing knowledge •Monitoring and evaluation skills •Financial planning skills •Team leadership Qualifications: • The position requires a Master’s degree in Finance/ Accounting/related field or equivalent (essential). • Certified Public Accountant certification (desirable). Experience: •The position requires at least ten (10) years on the job experience with at least three (3) years at a managerial level to acquire the competencies necessary to respond to the challenges of the functions. The experience should include span: o Sound investment o Policy implementation o Financial reporting and analysis o Team Leadership o Report writing o Relevant accounting and general computer applications. Any combination of relevant qualifications and experience will be assessed for suitability SALARY: $75,000 per annum plus relevant allowances
FINANCIAL CONTROLLER JOB SUMMARY:
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY JOB SUMMARY:
This is a senior professional position, which is accountable for the prudent management, investment, disbursement, safety and transparency of expenditure of the Sports Commission funds. The
This senior administrative support position will provide an efficient and responsive administrative, organizational and logistical service to the Director of Sports and Sports
Commission Board. The job is based in Providenciales, Knowledge and Skills: Applicants should be able to demonstrate: •Advanced IT skills including, Microsoft Office, email and internet research. •Typing proficiency of 40 words per minute. •Experience or a good knowledge in administrative management skills. •Professionalism. •Diplomacy skills. •Excellent pleasant demeanour. •Customer service skills. •Excellent organizational skills. •A track record in planning, programme development, implementation and evaluation. •Some knowledge of sports issues, including priorities and activities. •A good understanding of the diverse cultures in the TCI, and its social and political realities. •Good written and verbal communication skills Qualifications: •Associate Degree in Business Administration or related field from a recognized institution (essential). •Associate of Science degree in Administrative Professional Office Management (desirable). Experience: •Five (5) years’ experience in an Administrative/ Secretarial role industry, of which three (3) years were working with senior management level. Any combination of relevant qualifications and experience will be assessed for suitability. SALARY: $38,400 per annum plus relevant allowances FACILITY ATTENDANT JOB SUMMARY: The job holder ensures that sporting facilities are secure and safe, while monitoring equitable use and protecting Sport Commission assets. The holder ensures that order is maintained by users and monitors the entry, exit and compliance of users at all facilities. The job is based in Providenciales, Knowledge and Skills: Applicants should be able to demonstrate: •Ability to work unsupervised •Must be able to explain and demonstrate, with or without reasonable accommodation, that the essential functions of the job can be performed •Computer literate, good writing skills, analytical and problem-solving skills •Ability to communicate effectively •Ability to operate sufficient information so to relay to other personal •Ability to follow oral and written instructions •Knowledge of principles and practices of operation •Knowledge of fire safety procedures •Knowledge of first aid and CPR and use of AED •Knowledge of emergency response techniques Qualifications: •Training in Customer servicer •Computer literate •Speaks, write and understands English •A high School leaving certificate •First aid certificate (desirable) Experience: •The position required a minimum of two (2) years on the job experience to acquire the necessary competencies to respond effectively to the challenges of the job. •Security controls (desirable) Any combination of relevant qualifications and experience will be assessed for suitability. SALARY: $10 per hour
APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Resumes with current contact information must be accompanied by a Cover Letter and two letters of reference (one preferably from the most recent employer) as well as copies of educational certificates and a copy of the Passport photo page, National Turks & Caicos Islander Status Card (where applicable). Shortlisted candidates must submit a Police Certificate. Applications should be addressed to The Director, TCI Sports Commission, GustarvusLightbourne Sports Complex, Down Town, Providenciales Applications can be hand delivered, or sent by email to: tcisportsrecruitment@gov.tc Hand delivered applicationsmust have clearly marked on the envelope the Job Title of position being applied for. On emailed applications, the subject line must reference the Job Title. Applications without supporting documents will not be processed We thank all applicants for their interest, however, only persons selected for an interview will be contacted. APPLICATION DEADLINE: 24th July 2020
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Debates turn emotional as schools decide how and if to open School districts across America are in the midst of making wrenching decisions over how to resume classes in settings radically altered by the coronavirus pandemic, with school buses running below capacity, virtual learning, outdoor classrooms and quarantine protocols for infected children the new norm. The plans for the upcoming school year are taking shape by the day, and vary district to district, state to state. The debates have been highly emotional, with tempers flaring among parents and administrators, and have been made all the more vexing by record numbers of COVID-19 cases being reported each day. In Florida, some school districts want students back in the classroom in early August, even though the virus is surging through communities. On average, Florida has reported more than 7,000 new cases each day recently — more than seven times what it was reporting a month ago. New Mexico, which has been largely spared major outbreaks, plans a hybrid model of virtual and in-person learning. Parents in New York have demanded schools reopen in the fall. And in Maine, more outdoor learning is planned. Districts nationwide are coming up with various rules for wearing masks. Some want all students to wear them. Others, such as Marion County, Indiana, plan to limit the requirement to older children. Each of these decisions is
fraught, trying to balance health concerns with clawing back as much normalcy as possible. Parents, wrung out after months of juggling full-time work and full-time home schooling, are desperate for help. Children, isolated from their peers, are yearning for social interaction. And everyone, including teachers, is concerned about stepping into the unknown, with so much still uncertain about the virus. Districts are worried about being able to afford added supplies — including masks and more buses. And school officials said the resurgence of virus cases underway could shatter reopening plans before they’re even put in place. “If we see large outbreaks happening across communities, it’s going to be very hard to keep schools open,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, on “Fox News Sunday.” “The good news is we think kids transmit less. They are certainly less likely to get sick, but ... imagine Arizona right now. If schools were open right now, they would not be able to stay open.” Aimee Rodriguez Webb, a special education teacher in Cobb County, Georgia, is wrestling with her own health concerns while waiting to hear her district’s plans. She also has a 3 year old. “I love being in the classroom. And this year I get my own classroom, so I was looking forward to decorating it and all that,” she said. “But then the flip side is ... I don’t know that I’m mentally ready
Is it safe to stay in hotels as reopenings get underway? Is it safe to stay in hotels as stations in lobbies, disinfecting reopenings get underway? surfaces like elevator buttons more It depends on the frequently and removing extra precautions both you and the hotel items in rooms, such as pens and take. It’s best to call ahead to see paper. Breakfast buffets may also be how the place you’re considering replaced with prepackaged meals. is working to minimize the risk of Once at a hotel, Dr. Albert COVID-19. The U.S. Centers for Ko at the Yale School of Public Disease Control and Prevention Health says guests should continue suggests asking if the staff is wearing to follow social distancing face coverings, for example, and guidelines, since the virus spreads whether cleaning practices have mainly from person-to-person been stepped up. contact. Dine outside if possible, To reassure potential guests, he says, and don’t crowd into many hotels — from luxury resorts elevators. to budget brands — are sharing The CDC also suggests the changes they’re making on taking the stairs when possible and their websites. New practices may minimizing the use of common include adding hand sanitizer areas.
to step into the unknown like that.” Schools around the U.S. shut down suddenly this year as coronavirus cases first began rising. That led to a hodgepodge of distance learning, on-the-fly homeschooling and, for some families, a lack of any school at all. Districts are now turning their focus to how to create more structured environments. But the debates have been filled with tension. Near Rochester, New York, parents rallied in favor of fully opening schools, holding signs outside an administration building June 29 saying: “No normal school? No school taxes!” Olivia Chan’s father helps her with a new mask Christina Higley, a parent she received during a graduation ceremony for in the Rochester suburb of Webster, her Pre-K class in front of Bradford School in said she started a Facebook group Jersey City, N.J. initially to demand answers and have a say in what school would stone amid a surge in infections. The look like, but the discussions there county recorded its highest number sparked a movement for reopening of new cases in a single day in late schools. June. “There’s a lot of parents If a student tests positive that are saying, `Open our schools, for the virus in the new school let us have the decision if we feel year, classrooms or whole buildings comfortable sending the children would need to be disinfected, said in to them,’” said Higley, whose Mike Barber, a district spokesman. children just finished kindergarten, Students and staff with confirmed third and fifth grade. infections wouldn’t be able to return The decisions are even more until they had tested negative twice. complicated in districts where the Meanwhile, medical case count is rising. In Manatee experts have expressed concerns for County, Florida, the working plan children’s development and mental is for all elementary students to health. The American Academy of return to school full time on Aug. 10. Pediatrics said it “strongly advocates Older students would rely on virtual that all policy considerations for the learning while they are phased back coming school year should start with into brick-and-mortar schools. a goal of having students physically But that proposal isn’t set in present in school.”
How risky is flying during the coronavirus pandemic? How risky is flying during the coronavirus pandemic? Flying can increase your risk of exposure to infection, but airlines are taking some precautions and you can too. Air travel means spending time in security lines and airport terminals, which puts you into close contact with other people. As travel slowly recovers, planes are becoming more crowded, which means you will likely sit close to other people, often for hours, which raises your risk. Once on a plane, most viruses and other germs don’t spread easily because of the way air circulates, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Airlines also say they are focusing on sanitizing the hard surfaces that passengers commonly touch. Some airlines like Alaska, Delta, JetBlue and Southwest are blocking middle seats or limiting capacity. But even if every middle seat is empty you will likely be closer than the recommended distance of 6 feet to another passenger now that planes are getting fuller. American, United and Spirit are now booking flights to full capacity when they can. All leading U.S. airlines require passengers to wear masks. Lauren Ancel Meyers, an expert in disease outbreaks at the University of Texas, says that can help limit risk.
Does wearing a mask pose any health risks? Does wearing a mask pose that wearing masks or other When it’s humid outside, fungal or bacterial infections, any health risks? face coverings in public helps it could feel like it’s harder to according to Davidson Hamer, an No, not for most people. reduce the risk of spreading the breathe if you’re not used to infectious disease expert at Boston Babies and toddlers should not virus when people can’t socially wearing a mask, said Benjamin University. Disposable face masks wear masks because they could distance by staying 6 feet apart. Neuman, a professor of biology at are meant to be used once, then suffocate. The same goes for The coronavirus mainly Texas A&M University-Texarkana. thrown in the garbage. With cloth anyone who has trouble removing spreads through droplets that are But he said masks don’t masks, it’s a good idea to wash a mask without help. emitted when people talk, laugh, meaningfully decrease oxygen in them regularly. Others can wear masks sing, cough and sneeze. Masks the body. Wearing a mask may be without risking their health, lower the likelihood of those “The body is quite good uncomfortable, but health officials according to experts, despite false droplets reaching other people. at adjusting to keep oxygen levels say you should resist any urge to rumors to the contrary. Even if you don’t have symptoms, where they need to be,” he said. touch your face. That could bring In areas where COVID-19 you could be carrying the virus There’s also no evidence germs from your hands into your is spreading, health experts agree and could spread it. that the use of masks causes nose, mouth or eyes.
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Louvre Museum prepares to reopen, minus the Mona Lisa melee France’s Louvre Museum is getting ready to reopen almost four months after COVID-19 forced it to close, but visitors will find one feature missing: the heaving crowd jostling to get a view of the “Mona Lisa”. With many foreign tourists not expected back for months, and strict social distancing measures in place, the post-outbreak Louvre that opens on July 6 is likely to be a more serene experience than usual. Workers this week were putting the final touches on preparations at the former palace on the banks of the Seine that, according to managers, is the world’s most visited museum. There will be disinfecting hand gel dispensers, a booking system that allocates time slots to visitors, a one-way system, as well as signs reminding visitors to keep one metre (yard) apart and wear masks. And managers anticipate that initial visitor numbers will be only a fifth of pre-outbreak levels. The museum’s director Jean-Luc Martinez said its sheer size - 45,000 square metres of
British-Indian artist Anish Kapoor poses with his sculpture in the gardens at Houghton Hall in Norfolk, Britain July 9, 2020. Media people, wearing protective face masks, stand in front of the painting “Mona Lisa” (La Joconde) by Leonardo Da Vinci at the Louvre museum in Paris as the museum prepares to reopen its doors to the public following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in France, June 23, 2020. Picture taken June 23, 2020. galleries containing 30,000 works will reopen - means it will not be hard to respect physical distancing. “It’s not somewhere where you’re going to be crushed up against each other,” he said. Before the outbreak, the Louvre had around 1 million visitors each month in the summer season. Three quarters of them were foreign tourists. Many visitors traditionally made a beeline for Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa”, often resulting in a crowd several people deep in front of it.
Martinez said the COVID-19 lockdown had cost about 40 million euros ($45 million) in lost ticket office revenue, cancelled events and shop sales. He said the Louvre would weather the storm, although it was likely to need two or three years to get back to normal. “This palace is more than 800 years old, the museum has been open for more than 200 years. Of course this crisis is an unusual moment, but the Louvre will remain,” he said.
Who would be the first to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Who would be the first to get a COVID-19 vaccine? Probably people in the country where the first effective vaccine is developed. About a dozen different vaccines are in various stages of testing worldwide, including in Britain, China and the U.S. This week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious disease expert, said he is cautiously optimistic there will be a COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year or early 2021. Several wealthy countries have already ordered
After UK lockdown delay, sculptor Anish Kapoor exhibits at Walpole’s mansion
millions of doses of those agreed to license its vaccine to experimental vaccines. India’s Serum Institute for the Britain and the U.S., production of 1 billion doses. for example, have invested The World Health Organization in a vaccine candidate is drafting guidelines for being developed by Oxford the ethical distribution of University and produced by COVID-19 vaccines. AstraZeneca. If it works, U.K. How vaccines are politicians have said Britons distributed within a country will be vaccinated with it. The will vary. Last week, U.S. U.S. expects to start stockpiling officials said they were it this fall and also has invested developing a tiered system for in other vaccine candidates. that. The system would likely Groups including the prioritize groups at greatest risk vaccine alliance GAVI are also of severe complications from working to buy doses for poor COVID-19 and key workers. countries and AstraZeneca has
With Britain’s coronavirus lockdown eased, sculptor Anish Kapoor can finally exhibit his work at Houghton Hall, one of the country’s best-known stately homes. Kapoor’s exhibition of 24 sculptures was due go on show thoughout the grounds and historic interiors of the hall in Norfolk, eastern England, in March but COVID-19 put paid to that plan. However, Britain’s further easing of lockdown on July 4 permitted the reopening of museums, galleries and heritage attractions. The exhibition by Indian-born Kapoor, best known for the Orbit at the Olympic Park created for the London 2012 Olympics, includes major works in mirror and stone and carved marble pieces. The artist said Houghton Hall, built in the 1720s for Prime Minister Robert Walpole, was an ideal setting. “Without a doubt Houghton Hall is one of the great monuments in a way ... of this country, so to be showing works in it, in the grounds here is marvellous,” he said. “It also has, I think, very clear formality - the house addresses a long vista in a fairly long tradition of completely clear arrangement. Sculpture does actually work really well in relation to that.”
Magnolia Restaurant Location: 76 Sunburst Road, Turtle Cove, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands Kitchen Helper Position Assisting Chef in preparation and service of food as well as cleaning duties Must be willing to work afternoons/evenings 6 days per week including weekends and public holidays -Pay is $8 per hour (up to 55 hours/week in season) -Share of gratuities -2 professional and 2 personal references -Police Clearance -Minimum 3 years experience in fast pace kitchen environment in similar position Position is for a work permit renewal Qualified and interested Belongers Only to apply either via email Or drop resume at our place of business with copies To Immigration Board/ Employment Services Employer Information: Magnolia Restaurant-Miramar Resort-Turtle Cove Tel: 941.5018 Email: magnoliaprovo@live.com
Thousands of U.S. judges who broke laws or oaths remained on the bench In the past dozen years, state and local judges have repeatedly escaped public accountability for misdeeds that have victimized thousands. Nine of 10 kept their jobs, a Reuters investigation found – including an Alabama judge who unlawfully jailed hundreds of poor people, many of them Black, over traffic fines. Judge Les Hayes once sentenced a single mother to 496 days behind bars for failing to pay traffic tickets. The sentence was so stiff it exceeded the jail time Alabama allows for negligent homicide. Marquita Johnson, who was locked up in April 2012, says the impact of her time in jail endures today. Johnson’s three children were cast into foster care while she was incarcerated. One daughter was molested, state records show.
Another was physically abused. the medical bills of her disabled son, a statement to Reuters, Hayes said “Judge Hayes took away my and a hotel housekeeper working he was “very remorseful” for his life and didn’t care how my children her way through college. misdeeds. suffered,” said Johnson, now 36. Hayes, a judge since 2000, Community activists say his “My girls will never be the same.” admitted in court documents to departure is long overdue. Yet the Fellow inmates found her violating 10 different parts of the decision to leave, they say, should sentence hard to believe. “They had state’s judicial conduct code. One of never have been his to make, given a nickname for me: The Woman the counts was a breach of a judge’s his record of misconduct. with All the Days,” Johnson said. most essential duty: failing to “He should have been “That’s what they called me: The “respect and comply with the law.” fired years ago,” said Willie Knight, Woman with All the Days. There Despite the severity of the pastor of North Montgomery were people who had committed ruling, Hayes wasn’t barred from Baptist Church. “He broke the law real crimes who got out before me.” serving as a judge. Instead, the and wanted to get away with it. His In 2016, the state agency judicial commission and Hayes sudden retirement is years too late.” that oversees judges charged Hayes reached a deal. The former Eagle Hayes is among thousands with violating Alabama’s code of Scout would serve an 11-month of state and local judges across judicial conduct. According to the unpaid suspension. Then he could America who were allowed to keep Judicial Inquiry Commission, Hayes return to the bench. positions of extraordinary power broke state and federal laws by jailing Until he was disciplined, and prestige after violating judicial Johnson and hundreds of other Hayes said in an interview with ethics rules or breaking laws they Montgomery residents too poor to Reuters, “I never thought I was pledged to uphold, a Reuters pay fines. Among those jailed: a doing something wrong.” investigation found. plumber struggling to make rent, a This week, Hayes is set to mother who skipped meals to cover retire after 20 years as a judge. In
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BUSINESS &
TECHNOLOGY
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 first hands-on pictures just leaked — and it looks fantastic
The first hands-on, real-life pictures of the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 have been revealed. And needless to say, we’re impressed with how good the new Samsung flagship looks. Leaker Jimmy Is Promo has shown off what he says is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra - the most fully-featured model - in three tweets. One shows the Note 20 inhand, another shows the phone on its back with its S Pen stylus, and a third looks at the display in greater detail. Since the look of this phone matches a recently leaked render of the Note 20 from Samsung’s own website, it seems very likely that this is legitimate. In the first image, we can see the Note 20 Ultra in a glossy black color option. The leaked render we mentioned above showed the phone in a handsome bronze color, but looking at the camera array, this seems to be the same phone. The trio of cameras looks to be a main, ultrawide, and periscope telephoto combination (with resolutions of 108MP, 12MP and
13MP respectively). These three cameras are then backed up by a depth sensor. Galaxy Note 20 Ultra rumors so far have indicated that sensor will be a new laser that will help with focussing the main cameras as well as with depth effects like bokeh. The standard Note 20 will also get three cameras and a sensor, except it will use a traditional time-of-flight sensor, as well as different sensor resolutions. Jimmy Is Promo’s image of the Note 20 Ultra’s display shows Samsung has made some subtle improvements. He claims that the bezels are smaller on this model, but this difference can be hard to spot when you’re looking at the phone by itself. Fortunately, leaker Ice Universe put together a comparison shot with a Galaxy Note 10 to help illustrate what’s changed from last year’s model. The comparison looks to confirm all the changes to the bezels, as well as showing that the Note 20 Ultra has a smaller central punch-hole for the selfie camera and that the Note 20’s display looks to have more of a curve than the Note
SpaceX launches Air Force’s newest GPS satellite
A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket, with a global positioning satellite for the U.S. Space Force, lifts off from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Tuesday, June 30, 2020. SpaceX launched the military’s newest, most accurate GPS satellite Tuesday after a twomonth delay due to the pandemic. A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying the GPS satellite to orbit. The brand new first-stage booster landed on an ocean platform several minutes later, to be recycled for future use. The launch originally was scheduled for April, but the newly
organized U.S. Space Force delayed it to keep staff healthy and safe during the coronavirus outbreak. This is the third in the most advanced line of GPS satellites, and joins a constellation of 31 GPS spacecraft in orbit, according to the Space Force. The launch was dedicated to Col. Thomas Falzarano, commander of the 21st Space Wing at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado who died in May at age 47.
10’s. The Galaxy Note 20 also has a much squarer frame, which will help differentiate it from Samsung’s other flagship, the Galaxy S20 series, which have rounded corners. We’re about a month away from finding out whether this Galaxy Note 20 leak, and all the rest, are true or not. There have been regular rumors about a Galaxy Unpacked event taking place on August 5, where Samsung is believed to be revealing the Note 20, along with the Galaxy Fold 2, Galaxy Watch 3, Galaxy Tab S7 and many other products. As well as the exterior elements we’ve seen here, we’re going to see a 5G-enabled Snapdragon 865 Plus chipset, a 120Hz refresh rate for the 6.9-inch QHD display, between 4,500 and 5,000 mAh of battery capacity, and 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on the Ultra model. The standard version will share the chipset and refresh rate, but will feature 8GB RAM, 128GB storage, a smaller battery capacity, and a 6.4inch FHD display instead.
Samsung Galaxy Note 20
Canada’s biggest banks join boycott of Facebook platforms
The Facebook logo is displayed on a mobile phone in this picture illustration taken December 2, 2019. Canada’s biggest lenders Thursday it will pause advertising confirmed on Friday they had on Facebook and Instagram for the joined a widespread boycott of month “barring any exceptional Facebook Inc (FB.O) begun by situations where we need to U.S. civil rights groups seeking to communicate with our members or pressure the world’s largest social clients.” media platform to take concrete Most cited their steps to block hate speech. commitments to inclusion and More than 400 brands have diversity. pulled advertising on Facebook Facebook has opened itself in response to the “Stop Hate for up to a civil rights audit and has Profit” campaign, begun after the banned 250 white supremacist death of George Floyd, a Black organizations from Facebook and man who died in police custody in Instagram, a spokesman said by Minneapolis on May 25. email. Its investments in artificial Canadian lenders Royal intelligence mean it finds nearly Bank of Canada (RY.TO), Toronto- 90% of hate speech it takes action Dominion Bank (TD.TO), Bank on before users report it, he added. of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO), Bank of BMO said it is continuing its Montreal (BMO.TO), National Bank “ongoing dialogue with Facebook of Canada (NA.TO) and Canadian on changes they can make to their Imperial Bank of Commerce platforms to reduce the spread of (CM.TO) all said they will pause hate speech.” advertising on Facebook platforms RBC said one way to help in July. clients and communities is to stand Desjardins Group, Canada’s against “misinformation and hate largest federation of credit speech, which only make systemic unions, also said on its website on racism more pervasive.”
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BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY WORLD NEWS
European police crack encrypted phones, arrest hundreds
A member of the Cybercrime Center as he turns on the light in a lab during a media tour at the occasion of the official opening of the Cybercrime Center at Europol headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands. European police delivered a major blow to organized crime after cracking an encrypted communications network, allowing them to covertly watch “over the shoulder” of criminals in real time as they planned drug trafficking, arms sales, assassinations and torture, officers announced Thursday. The massive cross-border probe started in 2017 when French police began investigating phones using the EncroChat secure communication tool and ultimately were able to work around the encryption to gain direct access to users’ communications. “It was as though we were sitting at the table where criminals were chatting among themselves really,” said Jannine van den Berg, chief of the Dutch National Police Force. European police and judicial authorities said they expect the investigation to send shockwaves through organized crime gangs across the continent. The encrypted platform was used by 60,000 people worldwide, including around 10,000 in Britain, British police said. The service pushed a message to all its users on June 13 alerting them that their systems had been breached and urging users to throw away their phones, European Union police agency Europol added. The agency said EncroChat sold its “cryptotelephones” for around 1,000 euros each and offered subscriptions with worldwide coverage for 1,500 euros for six months. Britain’s National Crime Agency said it used EncroChat data to launch investigations that led to the arrest of 746 suspects and the seizure of more than 54 million pounds ($68 million) in criminal cash, 77 firearms and more than 2 tons of drugs. “Together we’ve protected the public by arresting middle-tier criminals and the kingpins, the so-called iconic untouchables who have evaded law enforcement for years, and now we have the evidence to prosecute them,” said NCA Director of Investigations Nikki Holland. “The infiltration of this command and control communication platform for the UK’s criminal marketplace is like having an inside person in every top organised crime group in the country,” Holland added. London’s Metropolitan Police used EncroChat data to launch what it called its most significant operation against organized crime, saying in a statement that it had arrested “some of London’s longest-standing and most dangerous criminals” and seized more than 13 million pounds in cash. Dutch police used a staggering trove of criminal communications — some 20 million messages — to launch a wave of drug raids and arrests in recent months, said Andy Kraag, head of the Dutch national police’s central investigation division. “Now, what seems to be possible only in thrillers and police series we’ve actually seen happen before our own eyes,” Kraag said. “We’ve actually been able to see what happens in real time with the criminals.”
Zoom got big fast. Then videobombers made it rework security Back in March as the coronavirus pandemic gathered steam in the U.S., a largely unheralded video-conferencing service suddenly found itself in the spotlight. And just as quickly as Zoom became a household name for connecting work colleagues, church and school groups, friends, family, book clubs and others during stay-athome lockdowns, it also gained a reputation for lax security as intrusive “videobombers” barged into private meetings or just spied on intimate conversations. On April 1, following a wave of lawsuits over privacy breaches, CEO Eric Yuan ordered a halt to work on new features and vowed to fix the service’s weaknesses in 90 days. That time is up, and Zoom is ready to take a bow. The work on “security and privacy is never going to be done, but it is now embedded in how we approach everything we do at Zoom now,” the company’s chief financial officer, Kelly Steckelberg, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. Zoom hailed some of the strides that it says it has made in a Wednesday blog post. The most visible changes included a switch that automatically protected all meetings with passwords and kept all participants in a digital waiting room until the meeting host let them in. Behind the scenes, Yuan began meeting regularly with a council consisting of top security executives in the tech industry and brought in former Yahoo and Facebook executive Alex Stamos as a special consultant. He also conferred with other supportive executives such as Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who took the unusual step of posting a video hailing Zoom as an “essential service.” The biggest security
leap is still to come. Zoom has promised to make it virtually impossible for anyone outside a meeting to eavesdrop by scrambling conversations via end-to-end encryption. The technique would lock up conversations so that even Zoom couldn’t play them back. Law enforcement generally opposes such encryption — already in use on apps such as iMessage, WhatsApp and others — saying it impedes legitimate police investigations. Such a security feature would give the company an even bigger advantage over competing services from Google, Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Facebook, said Rory Mir, a grassroots advocacy organizer for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group. “People don’t have a lot of great options right now, but Zoom is kind of leading the charge to make these improvements,” said Mir, who uses they/them pronouns. Zoom hasn’t said when end-to-end encryption will be ready, but it’s already had to expand on its original plan to make it available only to paid subscribers. The day after its original announcement, faced with a backlash, Zoom agreed to extend the encryption to free plans as well. It’s been a heady ride for the company. Its shares closed Tuesday at $253.54, nearly four times their value in December, creating $50 billion in shareholder wealth. The San Jose, California, company expects paid subscribers to generate $1.8 billion in revenue for the company this year, triple what Zoom pulled in last year. If Zoom wants to prove it puts the privacy of its users first, Mir believes it will have to show it’s willing to fight requests from law enforcement and other government agencies trying to
A sign for Zoom Video Communications ahead of the company’s Nasdaq IPO in New York. pry into the conversations on its service. The Zoom CEO has said he wanted to limit the use of end-to-end encryption so that the company could continue to work with law enforcement; the company later said he was referring to efforts intended to prevent Zoom from being used for child pornography. “Some activists now believe Zoom is like a cop,” Mir said. In a familiar refrain among tech companies operating around the world, Steckelberg said Zoom complies with local laws in each of the more than 80 countries where its service is used. More privacy issues could loom if, as some analysts anticipate, Zoom decides to start showing ads on the free version of is service to boost its profit. Steckelberg said the company doesn’t have any immediate plans to sell ads, but didn’t rule out that possibility. If Zoom goes down that road, Mir believes it will be difficult to resist the opportunity to mine the personal information it’s collecting because, they said, “data is the new oil. But it also can be toxic.”
Facebook agrees to audit its hate speech controls Facebook Inc (FB.O) giant to do more to take said on Monday it would down hate speech. submit itself to an audit of Media Rating how it controls hate speech Council (MRC), a media in a bid to appease a growing measurement firm, will advertising boycott of the conduct the audit to platform, as it prepared to evaluate how it protects address a group of advertisers advertisers from appearing on Tuesday. next to harmful content and The move comes the accuracy of Facebook’s as major advertisers such reporting in certain areas. as Unilever (ULVR.L) and The scope and timing Starbucks (SBUX.O) have of the audit are still being signed on to the “Stop Hate finalized, Facebook said. for Profit” campaign started Carolyn Everson, by U.S. civil rights groups, Facebook’s vice president of which urges brands to pause global marketing solutions, their Facebook ads in July is expected to address a group to pressure the social media of advertisers on Tuesday
morning, according to an advertising agency executive who will attend the call. Ford Motor Co (F.N) and Coca-Cola (KO.N) are among companies that said they would pause advertising on all social media platforms for at least 30 days. Facebook announced last week it would label “newsworthy” content that violates its policies, but the move failed to satisfy organizers of the boycott, who plan to call on more global advertisers to join the campaign.
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Bridgette Misick
Blythe Malcolm
Andy Lightbourne
Location: Grand Turk Is seeking a Domestic Worker Duties: Prospective applicant must be able to do general housekeeping Hourly Rate: $6.25 per hour Must be able to work 6 days a week Please Contact: 245-8536 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Location: Grand Turk Is seeking a Labourer Candidates must be physically capable of performing manual labour outside daily which involve grass cutting, tree trimming, removal of brush and weed, general cleanup of debris and garbage Hourly Rate: $6.25 per hour Must be able to work 6 days a week Please Contact: 231-2062 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Location: Grand Turk Is seeking a Labourer Candidates must be physically capable of performing manual labour outside daily which involve grass cutting, tree trimming, removal of brush and weed, general cleanup of debris and garbage Hourly Rate: $6.25 Must be able to work 6 days a week Please Contact: 244-4724 This position is new Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Genarra Jones
D. SELWYN MILLS
Of Grand Turk Is seeking a Domestic Worker Prospective applicant must be able to do general housekeeping Applicant is required to work 5 days per week Salary $6.25 per hour Please Contact: 431-1664 Note that this position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders are encouraged to apply directly, and submit a copy of their application to the Immigration Board
In South Caicos Is seeking an Assistant for a hardware store To work 5 days per week Duties include transportation of goods and stocking of shelves Heavy lifting required Salary: $ 200.00 per week Please contact 241-3375 This position is currently held by a work permit holder Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders are encouraged to send a copy of their application to the Labour Board
Turquoise Native Crafts & Souvenirs
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
Djour’s Cleaning Services Location: Grand Turk Is seeking a Labourer Candidates must be physically capable of performing manual labour outside daily which involve grass cutting, tree trimming, removal of brush and weed, general cleanup of debris and garbage Hourly Rate: $6.25 per hour To Work 6 days a week Please Contact: 245-8536 This position is New Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Basic Essentials
A & J Trucking
Location: 40 Uncle John’s Way, South Dock Road, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands Is in need of Dump Trailer Driver & Waste Collector Is seeking Labourer - $6.25 per hour Is seeking Mechanic - $400.00 per week Is seeking – operator - $ 10:00 per hour Is seeking – Welder - $400.00 per week •Driver must have at least 5 years experience in driving 24ft-30ft Dump Trailer Salary is $10.00 per hour •Waste Collector must be willing to work on garbage trucks, cleaning garbage from roadsides and various districts in Providenciales. Salary is $250.00 per week Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board and contact: Julie Smith Telephone #231-0032 anytime These position are currently held by Work Permit Holders #195273
Calvert Robertson
Location: #21 Elite Plaza, Airport Road, Providenciales, TCI Is seeking one (1) Cashier Duties: Welcoming customers, answering their questions, helping them locate items, and providing advice or recommendations. To work 7 days a week Salary is $6.50 per hour Please Contact: 331-3419 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders are encouraged to send a copy of their application to the Labour Board
Location: #246 Tom Lightbourne Road, Blue Hills, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands Is seeking a Domestic Worker To carry out Domestic duties around the house To work 5 days per week and sometimes on weekends Salary is $6.25 per hour Please Contact: 342-2927 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
WALTER MOORE
VANESSA ROLLE
Faith Baptist Church
Location: The Bight Cultural Craft Market, Providenciales, TCI Is seeking a Helper Duties: Adapt, utilize, and sculpt a variety of materials to create arts and crafts Must be able to work 5 days Salary is $6.25 per hour Please Contact: 331-3419 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Applicants who Turks and Caicos Islanders should submit Copies of their application to the Labour Board #195278
#195265
#195267
A2 Fashions
ALEXANDER MESA
Location: Venetian Road, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands Require a Multilingual Store Clerk Responsible for: Sales, record keeping, bank deposits, stock taking, assist with reordering Individual should also have a driver’s license and personal car as clients may require merchandise being shown off and outside store hours Must be able to work 40hours per week Salary is Minimum Wage Please Contact: 231-2358 Position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Applicants who are Turks and Caicos Islanders should also send copies of their application to the Labour Board
FISHERMAN NEEDED In Grand Turk Applicants must be able to fish, swim, clean and pack seafood products Salary $600 Bi-Weekly To work 6 days per week Please Contact: 243-5054 This position is currently being held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Is seeking one Fisherman On the Island of South Caicos Pay is $300.00 per week Applicants must be able to fish, swim, clean and pack seafood products Must be able to work 5 days a week Please Contact 232 -3001 This positon is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders are encouraged to send a copy of their application to the Labour Board
DOMESTIC WORKER NEEDED In Grand Turk To carry out Domestic duties, must be able to do general cleaning Salary $6.25 per hour To work 5 days per week Please Contact: 232-6302 This position is currently being held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Turks and Caicos Islanders are encouraged to send a copy of their application to the Labour Board
Location: Front Road, Blue Hills, Providenciales Is seeking a Pastor •Must have Ability to preach and teach the Saint Doctrine like Baptist. •Must be able to drive and to speak Haitian-Creole, French and English properly To work 6 days per week Salary $7.00 per hour Please Contact: 332-3516 341-3515 This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Applicants who are Turks and Caicos Islanders should also send copies of their application to the Labour Board #195268
NICOLA KENNEDY
Kevin Shalander
AJ’S PLUMBING SOLUTION
A & L TRUCKING/Lofton Morley
Location: Leeward Palms, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands Seeking a Nanny-Housekeeper Duties: Attend to kids basic needs; general daily tidying of the home; once per week thorough cleaning; washing and ironing. Salary: $275/wk; 30 hrs/wk CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS IS JULY 24, 2020 Applications can be dropped off at Immigration Board, and/or emailed to kevinshalander954@ gmail.com This position is currently held by a Work-Permit Holder
Is seeking one Plumber On the Island of Providenciales Pay is base on commission Applicants must be able to install and repair toilet, sink, water heater, etc Please Contact 345 – 5556 Job is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
Bautista Construction Location: off Blue Hills, 31 Old Grace Road, Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands Seeks to employ a Mason To work on construction site Duties include laying of Blocks, Plastering and Mixing of Concrete Salary is $8.00 per hour To work Monday - Saturday Interested persons can email resume to BautistaConst@gmail. com This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Applicants who are Turks and Caicos Islanders should also send copies of their application to the Labour Board
#195272
DOMESTIC WORKER NEEDED In Grand Turk Duties: Must be able to do general cleaning, honest and trustworthy Salary $6.75 per hour To work 6 days per week Please Contact: 245-5471 This position is currently being held by a Work Permit Holder Interested Belongers must submit their application to the Labour Board
4 G’s Maintenance & Cleaning Services Millennium Heights Blue Hills, Providenciales Tel # 649-346-1158/246-5677 Email: Prattsbarber@hotmail.com IS SEEKING (1) Laborer @ $8.00 per hour Duties: Installation of fixtures such as windows, doors, molding, sinks and toilets and doing repairs to sheetrock and painting. (1) Maid @ $6.50 Duties: General / Deep cleaning, inside only of residential and commercial properties. Washing ironing and folding of cloths. (2) Domestic Workers @ $6.50 per hour Duties: General / Deep cleaning inside and outside of residential and commercial properties which includes post construction cleanups. All workers must be able to work shifts which includes nights, weekends, and holidays. All positions are currently held by work permit holders These Positions requires at least three (3) years job experience to acquire the necessary expertise to respond effectively to the challenges of the job. They also requires individuals that can work without full time supervision. Deadline for applications are 26 July 2020 Qualified applicants should submit their resume, cover letter and two (2) written character reference via email. Turks and Caicos Islands, Residence and Belongers should also send a copy of their application to The Turks and Caicos Islands Commissioner of Labor. #195276
Location: 121 South Dock Road, Apt # 6, Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands SEEKS TRUCK DRIVERS Must have 8 years experience driving a tractor trailer Must be able to work on weekends & some nights when needed Must have a clean police record Salary $10.00 per hour Please Contact 331-4719 or 2465644 Two of these positions are new and two are currently held by Work Permit Holders Interest Turks & Caicos Islander applicants must send a copy of their resume to the Labour Board
TCI SERVICES LIMITED Located: Industrial Park Road, 404-405 Shamrock Storage, Providenciales Is seeking a SALES MANAGER Requirements: 4 years experience in sales and marketing must possess excellent communications skills, able to handle multiple request and customers, able to deliver goods and stock customers shelves, technical skills required, able to use QuickBooks, valid driver’s license. Knowledge of inventory procedures and typing Hours of work Mon-Fri 8am – 4:30pm This position is currently held by a Work Permit Holder Salary- base salary $1000.00usd per month plus commission Email resume to: msimmons@tciway.tc APPLICATION DEADLINE JULY 27TH, 2020 Prospective applicants who are Islanders can send copies of their applications to the Labour Board #195274
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
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WORLD
TURKS & CAICOS SUN
JULY 10TH, 2020 – JULY 17TH, 2020
SPORTS
Ivy League suspends fall sports due to coronavirus pandemic
The Ivy League on Wednesday became the first Division I conference to suspend all fall sports, including football, leaving open the possibility of moving some seasons to the spring if the coronavirus pandemic is better controlled by then. “We simply do not believe we can create and maintain an environment for intercollegiate athletic competition that meets our requirements for safety and acceptable levels of risk,” the Ivy League Council of Presidents said in a statement. “We are entrusted to create and maintain an educational environment that is guided by health and safety considerations. There can be no greater responsibility — and that is the basis for this difficult decision.” Though the coalition of eight academically elite schools does not grant athletic scholarships or compete for an NCAA football championship, the move could have ripple effects throughout the big business of college sports. It was the Ivy League’s March 10 decision to scuttle its postseason basketball tournament that preceded a cascade of cancellations. All major college and professional sports were halted within days. Football players in the Power Five conferences have already begun workouts for a season that starts on Aug. 29, even as their schools weigh whether to open their campuses to students or continue classes remotely. More than a dozen prominent programs from Clemson to LSU to Oklahoma have reported positive tests among their athletes in the few weeks since voluntary workouts began. Some have temporarily shut down the workouts, incluidng Ohio State and North Carolina on Wednesday alone.
Harvard players, students and fans celebrate their 45-27 win over Yale after an NCAA college football game at Fenway Park in Boston. Dr. Chris Kratochvil, the chair of the Big Ten’s infectious disease task force, said there is no “hard deadline” for a decision on sports. “Of course, we watch everything that’s going on,” said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, whose league has schools in five states from West Virginia to Iowa and Texas. “But we’re going to go forward and do our own evaluation, and so far our scientists and medical people are telling us that we should stay the course, and learn as we go and move slowly and evaluate as we go.” The Ivy League announcement affects not just football but soccer, field hockey, volleyball and cross country, as well as the fall portion of winter sports like basketball. Wednesday’s decision means Harvard and Yale will not play football in 2020, interrupting a rivalry known as The Game for the first time since the two World Wars. “This news is disappointing for all of us,” Harvard athletic director Erin McDermott said. “While the Fall 2020 experience will be unlike any other, I am confident that we
Messi nets 700th career goal with ice-cool penalty against Atletico Barcelona’s Lionel Messi scored his 700th career goal by converting a second-half penalty against Atletico Madrid at the Camp Nou in La Liga on Tuesday. The Argentine hit the landmark goal for club and country by netting from the penalty spot to give his side a 2-1 lead in the 50th minute, showing some nerve by chipping the ball into the net to deceive goalkeeper Jan Oblak. Messi had moved on to 699 goals after netting a penalty against Leganes two weeks ago but drew a blank in his last three matches against Sevilla, Athletic Bilbao and Celta Vigo before finally reaching the milestone against Atletico. Messi, 33, is Barca’s alltime leading scorer with 630 goals for the club where he has spent his entire career while he has netted a record 70 times for Argentina.
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi in action with Sevilla’s Ever Banega, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).`
will find positive opportunities in this challenging time. We will keep moving forward through this painful but temporary experience, together.” The league said it has not yet determined whether some seasons can be moved to the spring. But the conference noted that its schools already are limiting gatherings, visitors and travel for students and staff. “As athletics is expected to operate consistent with campus policies, it will not be possible for Ivy League teams to participate in intercollegiate athletics competition prior to the end of the fall semester,” the league said. Ivy League schools are spread across seven Northeastern states that, as of mid-July, have seen some success at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. But most of those states still ban large gatherings; under the Massachusetts reopening plan, Harvard would not be allowed to have fans in the stands until a vaccine is developed. Harvard has already announced that all classes for both semesters will be held virtually; dorms will be open only to freshmen
and seniors. Yale said it would limit its dorms to 60% capacity and said most classes would be conducted remotely. Princeton will also do most of its teaching online, with dorms at half capacity. But while Ivy League football remains a quaint extracurricular activity, the sport drives millions in revenues for Power Five schools. According to USA Today, the Longhorns football program brought Texas more than $144 million in 2018. Losing football would be a heavy blow for most schools. As Stanford announced it was cutting 11 varsity sports, its athletic director warned that a $25 million deficit forecast for 2021 would likely double if the football season is canceled. At a White House summit on reopening schools earlier Wednesday, President Donald Trump asked University of Alabama chancellor Finis St. John if the Crimson Tide will play football this year. “I can promise you. We are planning to play the season at the University of Alabama,” St. John said. “Understand that creates great difficulties and complexities, and we are hoping for that. It’s important to a lot of people. But we’re doing our best on that one.” Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh said on Wednesday he and his team want to play — even if it means moving the season to the spring, or playing in front of more than 100,000 empty seats at Michigan Stadium, known as “The Big House.” “It (the pandemic) is part of our society and we’re going to have to deal with it,” he said. “These kids have to do the same thing. They’ve got to go to school. They’ve been training their whole lives for the opportunity to play their sport.”
American Gauff can improve the world, says Navratilova American tennis player Coco Gauff can improve the world, 18time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova has said, lauding the teenage tennis prodigy for her role in the Black Lives Matter protests against racial injustice. Gauff, 16, released a video on social media protesting killings of African-Americans in the United States amid widespread outrage across the country following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man in police custody in Minneapolis. “She is just so poised on and off the court, she was really brought up with great qualities and it shows how she plays and it shows how she’s active now politically,” Navratilova told BBC Radio. “I smile so much when I see the reach she already has now, and she will have in the future. She’s one of those people that can change the world for the better, and she seems to want to do that.”
Cori Gauff of the U.S. in action during her match against Sofia Kenin of the U.S. The death of Floyd sparked worldwide protests against racism and calls for reforms of U.S. law enforcement. Last month, Gauff appeared at a protest in her hometown of Delray Beach, Florida. Naomi Osaka, the world’s highest paid sportswoman, and 23-times Grand Slam winner, Serena Williams, also made themselves heard regarding racial injustice. Navratilova, who is openly gay, said it was vital for sports stars to speak out.
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Heat end workouts after second positive COVID-19 test The Miami Heat closed their practice facility for training after a second player tested positive for the coronavirus, multiple media outlets reported Friday. Derrick Jones Jr. was identified as testing positive last week, but the name of the latest player to contract COVID-19 was not reported.
According to the Miami Herald, the latest player to test positive was placed in quarantine but is still expected to be ready to join the team for the season’s restart. The newspaper also reported that a Heat staff member has tested positive for COVID-19 in the past week. The Heat reportedly will
not train again in Miami before heading to the Orlando area next week ahead of the resumption of NBA action, but they will continue to test players at their South Florida facility. Play is due to begin July 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex with 22 teams vying for playoff berths. Miami’s first game
Chiefs, Mahomes agree to 10-year, $503 million extension The Kansas City Chiefs made sure they’ll have Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes around as long as possible. Mahomes agreed to a 10year extension worth up to $503 million, according to his agency, Steinberg Sports. The deal is worth $477 million in guarantee mechanisms and includes a notrade clause and opt-out clauses if guarantee mechanisms aren’t met. It’s the richest contract in professional sports history, surpassing Mike Trout’s $426.5 million deal with the Los Angeles Angels. “Since he joined the Chiefs just a few years ago, Patrick has developed into one of the most prolific athletes in all of sports,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement about the quarterback who led them to their first championship in 50 years. “With his dynamic play and infectious personality, he is one of the most recognized and beloved figures to put on the Chiefs uniform. He’s an extraordinary leader and a credit to the Kansas City community, and I’m delighted that he will be a member of the Chiefs for many years to come.” The Chiefs had the 2018 NFL MVP under contract for the next two seasons but that wasn’t nearly enough. “Here to stay,” Mahomes wrote on Twitter. The contract extension starts in 2022 when the NFL salary cap is projected to be $227.5 million. However, that number could be lower depending on revenue losses due to the cornonavirus pandemic and the possibility any games played this season won’t have fans. Still, Mahomes will take up a big chunk of Kansas City’s cap space, around 20
will be on Aug. 1 against the Denver Nuggets. The Heat joined a list of NBA teams that reportedly have shut down practice facilities due to coronavirus cases in the past few weeks, along with the Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers and Brooklyn Nets.
Clippers sign veteran center Noah
Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) passes against the San Francisco 49ers during the first half of the NFL Super Bowl 54 football game in Miami Gardens, Fla. percent depending on the 50 years and the first for coach annual contract breakdown and Andy Reid. That comeback final cap numbers. That could performance earned Mahomes potentially make it difficult for the Super Bowl MVP award and the Chiefs to pay several star only cemented his status as the players big contracts. face of the Kansas City franchise. The Chiefs already had Reid said the best part is that picked up their fifth-year option Mahomes is still early in his in April on Mahomes, who had career. Mahomes won’t turn 25 been due to make $825,000 until Sept. 17. on the final year of his rookie “He’s a natural leader contract this season, to keep him and always grinding, whether around at least through 2021. that’s on the field, in the weight General manager Brett Veach room or watching film, he wants said this deal has been a priority to be the best,” Reid said. “He’s for quite a while and thanked a competitor and his teammates Mahomes’ agents, Chris Cabott feed off his energy. He makes and Leigh Steinberg. us all better as an organization “His abilities are so and we are blessed he’s going to rare, and to couple that with be our quarterback for years to an incredible personality is come.” outstanding,” Veach said of The Chiefs traded up to select Mahomes. “We’re going to Mahomes 10th overall in the continue to do everything 2017 draft, and he spent one we can to surround him with season learning the ropes under talent, and this deal provides us Alex Smith before getting the more flexibility to do that. He’s starting job. obviously an integral part to our Mahomes proceeded to success and we’re thrilled he’s shatter just about every franchise going to be the quarterback of passing record while winning the Kansas City Chiefs for a long the league MVP award, and he time.” had the Chiefs within overtime Mahomes threw of landing in the Super Bowl touchdown passes on that season. He also was The consecutive fourth-quarter Associated Press NFL Offensive drives in rallying the Chiefs to Player of the Year. their first Super Bowl title in
Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah celebrates on the bench after they scored against the Brooklyn Nets in fourth quarter Game 7 of their NBA Eastern Conference Quarterfinals basketball playoff series in New York, May 4, 2013. The Los Angeles Clippers announced the signing of two-time All-Star center Joakim Noah on Sunday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Noah originally signed a 10-day contract with the Clippers on March 9, two days before the coronavirus pandemic forced the league to shut down. Noah, 35, hasn’t played in the NBA this season. He played in 42 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2018-19 and averaged 7.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound Noah spent his first nine seasons (2007-16) with the Chicago Bulls. He was the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the 2013-14 season. Noah also spent part of two seasons with the New York Knicks. He has averages of 8.8 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 blocked shots in 667 career games (512 starts) since being selected with the ninth overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. The Clippers were 44-20 and in second place in the Western Conference at the time of the hiatus. They are part of the NBA’s planned 22-team restart in Orlando, Fla., scheduled for late July.
Athletics: Sprinter Thomas cleared by AIU in whereabouts failure case American sprinter Gabrielle Thomas’s provisional suspension for allegedly failing to make herself available for anti-doping tests has been lifted, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on Friday. Thomas, twice a 200 metres winner at the Lausanne Diamond League, had been banned in May by the AIU for allegedly missing three tests in a 12-month period, a
violation of anti-doping rules. But according to the AIU’s Twitter account, Thomas provided new evidence in June and as a result one of the missed tests cannot be established and so no anti-doping rule violation has been committed. When the suspension was announced, Thomas said in a statement made available to Reuters that one of the missed tests was not
valid and that she expected to be cleared of charges. “Phone tracking data and multiple witnesses will conclusively show that I was at the exact location I established in my whereabouts and that the doping control officer simply failed to locate me and failed to follow proper protocol,” Thomas said in the statement.
Gabrielle Thomas of the U.S. celebrates winning the Women’s 200m.
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Washington Redskins to consider changing name of team
Barcelona’s Lionel Messi during the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Messi unwilling to renew Barca contract Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has called off negotiations over renewing his contract with the club and is ready to leave the Catalans when his current deal expires in 2021, according to a report by Spanish radio station Cadena Ser on Friday. The report said Messi and his father Jorge had begun discussing renewing his last deal with the club, which was signed in 2017, but that he no longer wishes to stay at the Camp Nou. The report added that Messi is angry about leaked media reports that appeared to make him seem responsible for events at the club, such as the January sacking of coach Ernesto Valverde, and that he is frustrated about the squad’s lack of quality. The Argentine’s representatives and Barcelona did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Messi, who turned 33 last month, scored his 700th career goal on Tuesday against Atletico Madrid, but the milestone strike ended in disappointment as Barca drew the game 2-2 in the latest blow to their bid to retain the Spanish title. Barca trail Real Madrid by four points in the title race with five games remaining after Real beat Getafe 1-0 on Thursday. Previously known for his shy personality off the pitch, Messi has become more vocal in his criticism of the club in the last year. In January he hit out at sporting director Eric Abidal, who he said had implied players had led to Valverde being sacked. In a February interview with newspaper Mundo Deportivo, he declared the team were not good enough to win this season’s Champions League. Then in April he criticised the board for implying players were not willing to accept a pay-cut to help the team’s financial difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic.
Under mounting pressure from sponsors and Native American rights groups, Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder said on Friday he would consider changing the name of the National Football League team whose roots date back to the 1930s. Snyder, who has previously stated he would not change the name, softened his stance a day after FedEx Corp, which owns the naming rights to the team’s Landover, Maryland, stadium, called for the NFL club to be rebranded. The NFL team said in a statement that in light of recent events around the country and feedback from the community that it will undergo a thorough review of the name. “This process allows the team to take into account not only the proud tradition and history of the franchise but also input from our alumni, the organization, sponsors, the National Football League and the local community it is proud to represent on and off the field,” Snyder said in a statement. Major League Baseball’s Cleveland Indians followed the Redskins’ lead on Friday, saying the club would also consider changing a team nickname that has been in place for 105 years, as symbols, statues and awards connected to the United States’ racist past have been under attack in recent weeks. On June 26 a group of more than 80 socially minded investment firms, collectively with more than $620 billion in assets under management, had urged FedEx, Nike Inc and PepsiCo Inc to terminate relationships with the team unless it changed its name. PepsiCo followed FedEx’s lead in speaking up on Friday. It issued a statement that it welcomed Snyder’s call for a review of the team’s name. “We have been in conversations with the NFL and
A Washington Redskins football team logo is seen on a shirt at a sporting goods store in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia, U.S., June 24, 2020. Washington management for a few weeks about this issue. We believe it is time for a change,” a PepsiCo representative said on Friday. “We are pleased to see the steps the team announced today, and we look forward to continued partnership.” Nike also welcomed the move, saying in a statement, “We are pleased to see the team taking a first step towards change.” The investors group, which includes Trillium Asset Management, Boston Trust Walden, and Native American organizations, in a statement on Friday applauded Snyder along with companies including FedEx and PepsiCo for communicating publicly about the importance of a name change but said the clock is ticking on getting something done. “We also believe there must be a clear timeline for the review,” said the statement, sent by a Trillium representative. “Delay is not acceptable and the team must move forward with urgency.” Critics have ramped up pressure on the team to change its name, which is widely seen as a racial slur against Native Americans, after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death on May 25 has triggered worldwide protests against racism and police brutality. NFL Commissioner
Roger Goodell said in a statement on the league’s website that he was supportive of Snyder’s move to look at a possible name change. “In the last few weeks we have had ongoing discussions with Dan and we are supportive of this important step,” Goodell said. Last month a memorial to late Washington Redskins’ founding owner, George Preston Marshall, who fought against the racial integration of the NFL, was removed from RFK Stadium, the team’s former home. Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins also removed a statue of their late former owner, Calvin Griffith, from outside Target Field in Minneapolis because of racist comments he made decades ago. NASCAR banned the Confederate flag, which many Americans see as a symbol of oppression and slavery, from all race tracks and events while the Professional Golfers’ Association of America on Thursday renamed the Horton Smith award which was named for a former PGA president who supported a “Caucasian-only” membership clause. The team that became the Washington Redskins was founded in 1932 as the Boston Braves. They changed their name to the Redskins the following year and moved to Washington, D.C., in 1937.
U.S. women’s team denied bid for immediate appeal in equal pay claims The U.S. women’s national soccer team’s bid to immediately appeal the dismissal of their equal pay claims against their national federation was denied on Tuesday. Judge R. Gary Klausner of the United States District Court for the Central District of California said their appeal must wait until after their Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. and team mates celebrate winning the women’s world cup remaining claims — including with the trophy. unfair medical services, travel and training — proceed to trial, spokeswoman Molly Levinson have been paid at lesser rates said the ruling “simply means than men who do the same job,” which is set for Sept. 15. Last month, the judge that an appeal may take longer she said. The U.S. Soccer threw out players’ claims to file”. “We intend to appeal Federation did not immediately that they were under paid in comparison with the men’s the Court’s decision which does respond to a request for not account for the central fact comment. national team. The players’ in this case that women players
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