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guyanatimesgy.com
THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2017
Regional Missing plane
Debris found as search continues near The Bahamas
Prominent New York businesswoman Jennifer Blumin (left) and Nathan Ulrich (right), and Blumin’s three- and four-year-old sons were on the plane that went missing. Pictured far right is debris, confirmed components of an MU-2B aircraft recovered 15 miles East of Eleuthera, Bahamas
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he US Coast Guard, with assistance from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force, is searching for survivors after a plane carrying four people disappeared from radar in the Bermuda Triangle area near The Bahamas on Monday. Prominent New York businesswoman, Jennifer
Blumin, and her sons – three-year-old Theodore and four-year-old Phineas – were on the private twin-engine turboprop plane heading to Titusville, Florida after leaving Puerto Rico around 11 a.m. on Monday, when the aircraft lost radio contact with the control tower three hours later.
Nathan Ulrich, the 52-year-old ex-husband of actress Rae Dawn Chong, was listed as the pilot. The plane was at 24,000 feet and about 37 miles East of Eleuthera at last contact. Search crews located a debris field on Tuesday, about 15 miles East of Eleuthera, sometime before
15:00h. The missing plane is owned by 40-year-old Blumin, founder and CEO of Skylight Group, an event management firm that has a portfolio of venues that include Skylight at Moynihan Station, which has hosted New York Fashion Week shows over the years.
(Caribbean360)
Air Canada flight from Jamaica Cuban man faces 30 years for after passenger immigrant smuggling operation diverted tries to open door Cuban national faces ted Garcia-Legon’s 25-foot
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up to 30 years in prison for his part in an immigrant smuggling operation from The Bahamas to the United States. A US Attorney Office release says 54-year-old Carlos Garcia-Legon pleaded guilty Monday to multiple charges, including 14 counts of encouraging and inducing an alien to come to the country illegally. Sentencing is scheduled for July 10. Court documents show a US Customs and Border Protection aircraft spot-
boat near Bimini, Bahamas, in February, and officers watched multiple passengers transfer from another vessel. CBP and US Coast Guard vessels approached GarciaLegon’s boat off the coast of Miami. Following repeated orders to stop, officers fired four shotgun rounds into his engines. Authorities say Garcia-Legon was transporting 14 passengers from various countries, including China, Jamaica, Sri Lanka and Ecuador. (Jamaica Observer)
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n Air Canada flight from Jamaica to Toronto was diverted to Orlando, Florida, after authorities say a passenger became aggressive, attacked the crew with coffee pots and tried to open the cabin door. A federal criminal complaint says crew members and other passengers secured Brandon Michael Courneyea using zip ties. Orlando television station WFTV reports the FBI was contacted about 19:30h
Monday. Investigators said Courneyea yelled at passengers for “looking at him.” He then grabbed a coffee pot from the galley and swung it at crew members before saying it would “only take one guy to take the plane down.” He lunged for a rear door and began pulling the lever. Federal agents arrested Courneyea, who faces several charges. It’s not clear whether he has a lawyer.
Puerto Rican nationalist Lopez Rivera released
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scar Lopez Rivera, the Puerto Rican nationalist and one of the longest-serving political prisoners in US history, has been released from house arrest in Puerto Rico. Lopez Rivera was sentenced to 55 years in prison in 1981 for his involvement with FALN, a Puerto Rican group that claimed responsibility for dozens of bombings in New York, Chicago, Washington and Puerto Rico in the 1970s and 1980s. He was never tied to specific bombings, which caused few injuries. Thousands of supporters were expected to cheer Lopez Rivera’s release on Wednesday at a celebration in Puerto Rico. Supporters of the 74-year-old, who spent 35 years in prison, are also expected to honour him next month in New York City’s
massive Puerto Rican Day parade. Lopez Rivera was placed under house arrest after former US President Barack Obama commuted his sentence before leaving office in January. There has been a campaign to free Lopez Rivera over the years, drawing support from Pope Francis, former President Jimmy Carter and “Hamilton” creator LinManuel Miranda. Following celebrations in Puerto Rico, Lopez Rivera is set to go to Chicago, where he spent some time growing up as a child, today. According to AP, Lopez Rivera has said that upon returning to Puerto Rico, he wanted to spend time with family, and create a thinktank to work on issues, including climate change, the economy and the island’s political status. (Excerpt from Al Jazeera)
Jamaica, Dom Rep to boost ties in several areas
(Jamaica Observer)
Move to replace Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency Funai
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congressional commission in Brazil led by a powerful farming lobby has recommended dismantling the country’s Indigenous rights agency, Funai. It said the agency currently run by anthropologists should be replaced with one controlled by the Justice Ministry. The panel also said about 80 Funai officials should be prosecuted for backing what it considered illegal land claims by Indigenous groups. Critics said the move was an attack on Indigenous rights by the farming lobby. They said the reform would leave Indigenous tribes unprotected as farmers were trying to move further into the Amazon rainforest.
Dozens of protesters rallied outside the Congress building in the capital Brasilia
On Tuesday, dozens of protesters with body paint and feathered headdresses danced outside the Congress building in the capital Brasilia to protest against the commission’s findings. Earlier this month, Antonio Costa, the head of Funai, was sacked just days after a brutal attack in which at least 10 Indigenous people were hurt. He complained that Funai had been left powerless after its budget was cut by more than 40 per cent. The assault in the northern state of Maranhao was carried out by farmers and landowners, the authorities say. More than 800,000 indigenous people from different tribes live in Brazil, making up less than one per cent of the country’s population. (Excerpt from BBC News)
“Racial dotishness,” says T&T’s PM Rowley
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rime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley has dismissed as “racial dotishness” critics who suggested the reason for inviting Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar to last week’s opening of the Brian Lara Cricket Academy, as well as naming a luxury suite at the facility in his name, was for the purpose of sanitising the beleaguered facility.
The furore brought about by the idea, which was put forward by former West Indies icon Lara, who is a close friend of Tendulkar, caused a furore which is believed to have influenced Tendulkar not to attend the opening. He said the idea of having the stadium named after two legendary cricketers was to make it a show piece in the cricket world and use
it as a business venture so Government could promote sports tourism. He explained that the academy is going to be part of a sport tourism and business venture. “We are looking for business outside and Sachin Tendulkar’s association with it would have exposed us to the largest cricket market in India. But in T&T that matters not, all that matters is
racial dotishness, because some people in this country cannot avoid including race in their discussion in every single thing they do… at the end of the day the stadium is opened, it’s the Brian Lara Academy and… We need no sanitisation.” Rowley said young people from T&T and the region will also be able to develop their careers at this facility. (Excerpt
from Trinidad Guardian)
Prime Minister Andrew Holness along with Danilo Medina, President of The Dominican Republic
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amaica and The Dominican Republic have agreed to increase trade, bilateral investment, cooperation in tourism and the training of teachers and students. In a joint statement on Tuesday, Dominican Republic President Danilo Medina and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness stressed the need to boost cooperation in tourism. Medina also expressed interest in having a tourism multidestination pact as soon as possible. The leaders noted the importance of cooperation in transport links and discussed Jamaica’s plans to host the UN World Tourism Organisation Conference on Sustainable Tourism. They announced support for exchange programmes on training, an initiative to be materialised with teachers and students from both nations, which aims to pro-
mote and develop skills in Spanish and English. Holness, expressed an interested in learning about the Dominican government’s social programs, especially affordable housing through public-private partnerships such as the sprawling Ciudad Juan Bosch, which can be applied to similar initiatives in Jamaica. Meanwhile, President of the Roundtable of Commonwealth Countries in The Dominican Republic, Fernando Gonzales Nicolas said Jamaica is one of the main business partners in the Caribbean. Nicolas made the comment on Tuesday during a meeting with Holness and Dominican business leaders, adding that the visit reveals the “Jamaicans’ interest in bolstering political and trade relations with the country.” (Excerpt from Jamaica Observer)