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Volume:117 No.02, NOVEMBER 22ND, 2019

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WEEKEND: SINGING WITH JACKO, NOW FOR JESUS

Reaching to the heaven s

Desperate missing Marvin’s family hire private detectives

NEARLY a year after Marvin Pratt went missing, his mother Barbara Saunders is more restless than ever. “Some nights I still can’t sleep, so I just try to keep going,” the 61-yearold said yesterday.

In the bizarre case, Ms Saunders and her family, relying on testimony from an alleged eyewitness, claimed last year that Drug Enforcement Unit (DEU) officers arrested Mr Pratt on December 5, 2018 and that

THE US company selected to deliver the “crashed” $18m Public Hospitals Authority contract yesterday appeared confused about its client’s identity as it defended its performance.

Allscripts referred to the “Public Housing Authority” - not the Public Hospitals Authority - in

A COMIC’S VIEW HEARTBROKEN AS A TRUE FRIEND PASSES AWAY

SEE PAGE EIGHT

‘WORST FISCAL SHAPE WE’VE EVER BEEN IN’ OPPOSITION spokesman for finance Chester Cooper estimates that the government may be $400m below its revenue targets this year.

Mr Cooper, Progressive Liberal Party deputy leader, issued the opposition’s statement last night in response to the government’s Fiscal Strategy Report tabled in Parliament this week by Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest.

The MP for the Exumas and Ragged Island argued

the Gambier Village resident hasn’t been seen since.

Rights Bahamas subsequently filed a habeas corpus application in the Supreme Court demanding that police produce Mr Pratt.

However, the application was dismissed, with then acting Supreme Court Justice Andrew Forbes saying his investigatory jurisdiction in the matter came to an end once police filed documents saying they have no record of Mr Pratt ever being taken into custody.

SEE PAGE SEVEN

WHERE’S THE ON-SITE SPILL MONITORS?

SEE PAGE THREE

asserting that it had “fully complied at all times” with the contract’s provisions.

It also pledged it “stands ready to complete the implementation” once it receives word from the government and the PHA, even though Minister of Health Dr Duane Sands indicated they were moving in a different direction to obtain an integrated healthcare management system for the public health system.

FULL STORY - SEE BUSINESS

pages 4 - 5

By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net

HOSPITAL COMPUTER FIRM INSISTS - WE DID OUR JOB

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

Pages 14&15

Local gospel artist in inte rnational limelight

‘Living or dead, give me my son’

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

RAISING FUNDS IN STYLE

DIAMOND DANCERS KINGSWAY Academy celebrated its 60th anniversary - its Diamond Jubilee - yesterday at the school’s campus. Picture special - Page 2 Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

SAVE the Bays chairman Joseph Darville has called on the government to place an environmental representative at the Equinor South Riding Point facility in East Grand Bahama to oversee the daily clean-up efforts of the oil spill.

In an interview with The Tribune yesterday, Mr Darville said he has visited the site on nine different SEE PAGE SIX

TRIO HELD ON IMMIGRATION CONSPIRACY

By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net

TWO women and one man accused of a litany of fraud charges were arraigned in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Haitian national Jane Doe aka “Jelica Joseph” aka “Jelica Shemika Moss”, 19, of Collins Avenue; Haitian national Carline Moss, 44, of Collins Avenue and Garfield Jamal Moss, 36, of Stapleton Gardens were all

THE TWO Haitian women charged before Magistrate Carolyn Vogt-Evans.

As it relates to the

teenager, in the first count of possession of false documents, it is alleged that on April 24, 2018 and November 15, 2019, she was in possession of a forged document — a Haitian passport bearing the name Jelica Joseph Moss — with the intent to deceive.

On the second count of uttering false documents, it is alleged that on July 8, she presented a Haitian passport bearing the name

Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper

SEE PAGE FIVE

DIANE PHILLIPS WORLD WHERE WE CAN VANISH INTO A SCREEN

SEE PAGE TEN

PAGE 2, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

HAPPY 60TH

KINGSWAY Academy celebrated its 60th anniversary and annual Thanksgiving Service yesterday at the school’s campus.

Jeff Lloyd, Minister of Education, is pictured top left.

Photos: Shawn Hanna/ Tribune Staff

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 22, 2019, PAGE 3

from page one

Missing Marvin’s family hire private detectives

A lawyer for the family said yesterday that the group has hired private investigators to examine the matter.

As the anniversary of her son’s disappearance nears, Ms Saunders said the lack of closure is still consuming her mind.

“Even though I’m going about life, he’s right here in my head and I think about him every day,” she said.

“Every day, every second.

If I move and do something, I think about him. I don’t know how I’m doing it. I have a picture of Marvin in my car. Every day when I sit down in the car, I put the picture down and look at it. I go to the shop, I got the picture in my hand with me. When I’m on the road driving to and from work I’m praying for him.

“If he living or he dead, just give me the bones because I have a life to live too. I can’t just let him be out there and not know what happened.”

Ms Saunders said a part of her believes her son is alive while another part believes he’s dead.

“Once I bury him, then I’ll change my life,” she said. “I want to run a race where when I find him, then I’ll die. If he living I will live, but if I find him, once I bury him, then I will lay down and die. I have other children but with me and him, when I used to be sick, he was always there for me.

He would get up in the night and would say, ‘I could drive you to the hospital and I will be there for you.’ I have big girls and they never even check so I have to do this for

him, even if I only found the bones.

“It’s so hard because I cannot stop,” she continued. “If he was involved with some kind of drug deal or something big, I wouldn’t bother checking because then I know what time it is.

But if this is a police mixup, then I got to find out because they the people who suppose to protect him.”

One neighbour, Rose Francis, claimed in affidavits that she saw four police officers chase and arrest Mr Pratt last year.

“I was cleaning a man’s bathroom and when I was going home that morning I saw the police coming

MARVIN Pratt has been missing for nearly a year.

and I saw Marvin, so I said ‘Marvin run, run, run, the man, the man,’ and they ran behind him, put him in a Jeep, and the officer told me if I open my (expletive) mouth he gon’ kill me,” she claimed.

Ms Saunders, however, said the family is still trying to get surveillance cameras they think could show what happened the day in question but neighbours have been uncooperative with her requests.

“I miss hearing him the most,” she said. “When he was here, there were plenty days I didn’t see him, but I would hear his voice and I miss hearing his voice.”

RBDF arrest man with huge haul of stolen goods

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net DEFENCE force officers arrested a man with boxes of suspected stolen items during a routine patrol of the Marsh Harbour dock on Wednesday night.

Leading Seaman Roscoe Greene, 40, said nearly 20 boxes of toiletries, groceries, unused tyres and lamps were recovered.

He called this the single largest seizure of suspected stolen items he has seen since arriving in Abaco after Hurricane Dorian a month ago.

He said such arrests are not unusual, with officers arresting people found moving boats, generators, and “other items people have been

reporting missing.” Marsh Harbour’s dock has especially been a hotspot for likely thieves trying to transport stolen items off the island.

“Given the state of Abaco, you wouldn’t expect people to be shipping stuff out, things should be coming in so when we see stuff like someone lingering at the dock after hours, we approach them and ask them to produce receipts,” he said. “Especially at night where the place is pretty dark, no person should be lingering or loitering in that area.

“We’ve uncovered other criminal activities as well, like a guy who was looting from a clothing store, stealing a number of brand name clothes and jewellery

while having about $1,000 in his pocket.”

Seaman Greene said officers have also been keeping an eye out for undocumented migrants.

He estimated that they have arrested 30 to 40 such people in his time on the island and have turned them over to the Department of Immigration.

“Immigration had a flight no later than (Thursday) morning of persons we collected and turned over to them,” he said. “We are trying to curtail the undocumented immigrant problem on the island.”

After Hurricane Dorian devastated Abaco, law enforcement faced withering criticism for how it has secured the island. Many Abaco

residents complained of widespread looting, with fears of violence and vigilantism.

Officer Greene said his team remains vigilant.

“On a daily basis we would go out on the streets and do routine patrols in strategic business areas, the container port, domestic dock areas and we would drive throughout neighbourhoods. On Wednesday night we just decided to drive on the dock to make checks.

Upon doing so we noticed a single black man with a flashlight, eagerly packing some items on a pallet.

We approached him, interviewed him and we discovered that he had a plastic tarp over a pallet.

He said he got the items off the dump but we knew

it wasn’t true because the boxes were still sealed. We could see the items were stolen from someone’s store or warehouse.”

Officer Greene said since arriving on the island he has observed a steady decline in the number of required arrests.

“There is a decline now that we are on the

ground and conducting traffic stops and screening persons at ID checks to determine if they are undocumented, all to bring some normalcy to the island,” he said. “We run vehicle check points from time to time. The word is out there that we are making progress and making our presence felt.”

PAGE 4, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

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Is a joke funny or offensive?

Who’s telling it matters IN SEPTEMBER, before the start of its 45th season, “Saturday Night Live” brought on some new cast members. The decision to hire one of them, Shane Gillis, was roundly criticised after disparaging jokes he’d made at the expense of Asian and gay people quickly surfaced.

A week after announcing Gillis’ hire, the show fired him.

On the other hand, critics widely lauded the addition of comedian Bowen Yang. Ironically, Yang also tends to poke fun at Asian and gay people during his sets.

So, why did Yang get to keep his job, while Gillis lost his?

We study why some jokes land and others don’t – and why the identity of the person telling the joke matters.

Yang, it seems, can “get away” with this sort of humour precisely because he is both Asian and gay, while Gillis is neither.

Many of us intuitively understand that it’s more permissible for people to openly judge or criticise social groups they belong to than those they do not belong to.

For example, many Americans may feel justified in calling out the country’s faults while lambasting a non-American for doing the same. This phenomenon is called the intergroup sensitivity effect, and we wondered whether it applied to humour.

To test this, we ran a series of studies in which we examined whether people’s reactions to disparaging jokes would change based on who was telling the joke.

In our first study, we showed participants a mock Facebook profile belonging to either a gay or a straight man who had posted a joke about gay people. We then asked the participants to rate how funny, offensive and acceptable they found the joke. Participants considered the joke funnier, less offensive and more acceptable if the poster was gay.

We wanted to know whether this effect also applied to jokes about race.

So, in a second study, we showed participants a mock Facebook profile belonging to an Asian, black or white man who had posted a joke about Asian people. Here, participants rated the joke as funnier, less offensive and more acceptable when the owner of the Facebook profile was Asian.

We then ran a third study in which we

directly asked participants how acceptable it was for members of different social groups to make jokes about their in-group or various out-groups. We found that participants, on a consistent basis, were more receptive to humour based on gender, race and sexual orientation if the person making the joke was also a member of the targeted group.

So why, exactly, does the group membership of the joke teller matter so much? We think it may have something to do with how an audience interprets the joke’s intent.

Some humour researchers distinguish between what they call “antisocial intentions” – in which humour is used to inflict harm and reinforce stereotypes about a social group – and “prosocial intentions” – where humour is used to empower the group and challenge stereotypes about it.

When humour is deployed in a selfreferential way, perhaps the audience is more prone to perceive it through a prosocial lens.

For example, when Bowen Yang speaks with an exaggerated Chinese accent, audiences may more readily construe this as coming from a benign place.

Maybe he’s satirising the racist ways in which others portray Chinese people, or perhaps he’s affectionately parodying his own culture. But no matter the real reason, he certainly wouldn’t want to inflict harm on his own group – or so the thinking goes.

On the other hand, when Shane Gillis does the same, audiences may be less likely to give him the benefit of the doubt – and more likely to infer malign and racist intentions. He doesn’t identify with his targets in any way. Maybe he truly does harbor disdain.

Alternatively, it may simply be the case that people are given greater “license” to make disparaging jokes about groups they’re a part of, irrespective of their motives.

We plan to test these potential processes across a new set of studies.

Nonetheless, our findings show that comedians and humourists, professional or otherwise, should be ever mindful of group dynamics. They could be the difference between a joke being met with rollicking laughter or awkward silence.

By Michael Thai, The University of Queensland and Alex Borgella, Fort Lewis College. This article first appeared on The Conversation

Kindness is a two-way street EDITOR, The Tribune

“AND, Mr Speaker, I just want to give an update…

There are many Bahamians who believe that we are collecting billions and billions of dollars.

“That is not true. We will give an update, but I want to point out that, as of today, we … received donations to the tune of $7,443,938.64, not the hundreds of millions of dollars that people believe.”

You are right, Prime Minister, many of us are believing a lot of money is being collected at least substantially more than 7.5 millions. What happened?

Days after Dorian pledges were being made from all over. A benevolent native entrepreneur went on record as being the first

to pledge a half million dollars. There were also a few other Bahamian companies that made pledges along with some friends from around the world who made announcement of their intentions. But that’s neither here nor there.

7.5 millions, Mr Prime Minister?

Bahamians claim to be a kindhearted loving people so where is the love? The Bahamas is the third richest country in the Americas behind The United State and Canada.

With that said one would think NEMA’s coffers would be overflowing. If one person donated 1/2 $ million and for you to report to the nation that only 7.5 $ million has been collected thus far is embarrassing and not saying much

about us as a people that professes to be loving and kindhearted.

Are we kind to others?

Kindness is a two-way street we cannot be unkind to others and expect others to be kind to us. Not only is the world watching, but as a Christian nation we are governed by the principles of doing unto others and charity begins at home.

Timothy Gibson in his wisdom left us with the following words to guide our thoughts and our actions.

See how the world marks the manner of your bearing!

Pledge to excel through love and unity.

God bless the Bahamas ANTHONY PRATT Nassau October 28, 2019

Taking risks helps progress EDITOR, The Tribune ACCORDING to former US president Franklin D Roosevelt, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much it is whether we provide enough for those who have little”. The philosophy of raising everyone’s standard of living is what made the United States the most powerful country in the world because the vast majority of the world saw the US as the land of opportunity where a person can improve their standard of living and this attracted the world’s most gifted people in all fields of human endeavour. This is no longer the case. The US has become insular exemplified

by US president Donald Trump’s policies of America First and we are not concerned about anyone else. His administration has implemented a tough and restrictive student and work visa policies and that one reason application and enrolment to US institutions declined in 2018 for the second year in a row.

The world has a vacuum because there is no country that wants the poor and huddled masses. “Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Immigration was important because the new nation needed immigrants to work in mines, harvest crops and to build infrastructure.

Reality always has contradiction.

As the Statue of Liberty

LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net was being erected in New York Habour to celebrate the end of slavery and their 100th year of nationhood, Americans were demanding that the Chinese be barred from immigrating to the US and Congress eventually complied with the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. There was always hostility towards immigrants, but it is increasing.

The total undocumented population in the US is dropping from a high of 12.2 million in 2007 to 10.5 million in 2017 according Pew Research Centre.

This is mainly due to more Mexicans leaving than entering. Mexicans are no longer the majority of undocumented immigrants(47%). In 2017, about 4.4 million Caribbean immigrants resided in the US, which is 10% of the 44.5 million immigrants.

Thousands of Bahamian reside in the US and if the environment gets more hostile for immigrants many will return home.

The US ranks 34 among 50 wealthy countries with per capita GDP of over US $20000 in net immigration.

Demographic trends in the US point to a severe labour crunch. With dropping fertility rate of native-born Americans, the number of working age Americans with domestic born parents is expected to fall by eight million from 2015 to 2035.

The US Census Bureau in 2017 revised downward by 50 million, its population forecast for 2050.s1 Immigration to Europe is relatively small, but Europe has moved from a continent of net emigration in 19th and first half of the 20th centuries to net immigration from the 1950s to present. Data release by International Organisation on Migration for the third quarter of 2017 recorded 146,287 total arrivals to Europe.s1 China, a competing hegemony, is obsessively focused on its economic rise. Their President Xi Jinping said, “The Chinese people are a great people; they are industrious and brave, and they never pause in the pursuit of progress”.

China does not want the poor or the huddled masses (poor immigrants).

No nation today recognises that it is usually the peasants or poor burning desire for progress that creates great wealth as well as crime and mayhem. Poverty is a two-edged sword it makes many desire wealth by any means necessary. This creates good and evil. Necessity (needing or needy people) is the mother of invention. Immigrants are willing to take risks. Risk taking is important to progress. I am not advocating for any country to take in immigrants because that is a decision that should be made by consensus.

BRIAN E PLUMMER Nassau October 26, 2019

Overwhelming hypocrisy EDITOR, The Tribune STATISTICALLY around 1 1/2% to 2% of the world’s population is homosexual and/or bisexual.

Homosexuality has been around for thousands of years. In one of the first great civilisation the Greeks (way before Christ) it was accepted and not frowned upon or criminalised. In essence it ain’t going away.

What then is to be done with it for civilised societies?

Do you sweep it under the carpet and treat these small minorities as societal lepers?

Is that fair of Christian or

civilised? It’s the differences in our societies that make humankind so interesting.

How appalling/boring it would be if we did not have diversity and everyone of us was identical. So the LGBT community want a Pride march, they are part of this society, we exercise free speech, freedom of expression I think? Who cares about a march, and, if they do, why?

Predictably the Christian Council is sermonising about this “abomination”.

In my opinion, half the preachers in the Bahamas are money grabbing

charlatans whose only connection to Christ is to use his name for personal enrichment whilst driving Bentley/Lexus and the likes all whilst taking tithes of their invariably impoverished congregations. The hypocrisy is overwhelming.

Sell your fancy cars/jets and go help the poor and needy as Christ preached and stop picking on largely law-abiding minorities.

Christian Council needs to put a UN before its title.

THE REALIST Nassau October 23, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 22, 2019, PAGE 5

SHANE GIBSON TRIAL DUE TO RESUME TODAY

By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net

Trio held on immigration conspiracy from page one Jelica Joseph Moss knowing the document was false.

The third count is in reference to possession of false documents. It is alleged that on July 1 to November 15, she had a police record bearing the name Jelica Joseph. The fourth count was uttering of a fraudulent document. It is alleged that on July 8, 2019 she uttered a police record with the name Jelica Joseph.

On the fifth count — intent to deceive — it is alleged that on July 2 to November 15, she was in possession of a false

medical certificate. For sixth count, it is also alleged that on July 8 she uttered the false medical certificate.

On the seventh count, it is further alleged that on August 21, 2018 and November 15, she possessed a false document which was a Centreville Primary School letter. Count eight involves uttering that false letter.

The three suspects were all charged with fraud by false pretences for count nine. It is alleged that on July 1 to July 8, Carline Joseph obtained a Bahamian police record from the criminal records office by means of false pretences.

Count 10 alleged during the same time as count nine, the three being concerned together, attempted to obtain from Family Medical Clinic on Faith Avenue a medical certificate by false pretences.

In count 11 it is alleged the trio conspired to commit fraud. They are accused of being concerned together on November 28, 2017 to November 15, 2019 with a common purpose to commit fraud by false pretences.

Count 12 alleged that on July 8 to November 15, while concerned together with the intent to defraud, the trio attempted to obtain

Police to beef up manpower as holiday season begins

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net WITH the murder rate now up to 90 for the year, National Security Minister Marvin Dames yesterday said the police force will be beefing up manpower in the capital as the holiday season approaches.

“We have many police officers out there on the streets of New Providence and this is coupled in with the work that our police force and defence force officers are doing on the island of Grand Bahama and Abaco because we had to increase the numbers there as a result of Hurricane Dorian,” he told reporters at Government House.

“But we recognise now that coming into the holiday period that we cannot take our eyes off of New Providence and… for the month, we may have had one or two murders. That’s not bad, but we’ll continue to do what we need to do to ensure that Bahamians are safe.”

His comments to the press came days after a man was found shot dead in Pinewood Gardens on Tuesday, bringing the country’s murder count to 90, according to this newspaper’s records. A week earlier, a man was found

shot dead outside his home on Ashley Close, off Hawk Ridge Road.

According to this newspaper’s analysis, murders have increased by 18 percent compared to last year’s figure around this time.

But by having more manpower on the streets of Nassau, Mr Dames suggested law enforcement officers are hoping to crack down on crime, including armed robberies — which have been a near daily occurrence in recent weeks.

“The commissioner and his team are aggressively pursuing those individuals. They have now implemented their holiday strategy and that’s super imposed on the ongoing strategy that they currently have to…protect our business people and residents,” he continued.

“I can assure members of the general public that the police are out there and in large numbers and they will continue to do what they have to do to ensure that the good people of this nation are safe...the police have assured me that they’re in holiday strategy mode...and to those that are hell bent on misbehaving, it’s just a matter of time before we get you off the streets and I make no apologies for that....”

When asked if officers dispatched to the storm affected islands will be sent to assist officers on New Providence, Mr Dames replied that police officers will remain on the affected islands.

“We’re not touching Abaco and we’re not touching Grand Bahama. As a matter of fact..we’re in the process of sending additional resources in the way of vehicles because we would have lost a significant amount of law enforcement vehicles (due to Dorian),” he said.

“We would have acquired maybe in excess of this inflow going in now close to 50 vehicles for Grand Bahama and Abaco for our law enforcement officers to create this visibility to ensure that the people of those islands remain safe and that they can begin this process of getting their lives back on track.”

In the meantime, Mr Dames is urging residents and business owners to be vigilant and to take all the necessary precautions to remain safe as the holiday season draws near.

“There is no country in the world that can boast of having a zero crime rate.

Like everywhere else, you have to be smart and take necessary precautions to keep you and your family safe,” he said.

TOP: CARLINE MOSS, left, and Jelica Joseph; above: Garfield Moss.

Photos: Terrel W Carey Sr/Tribune Staff Bahamian citizenship for “Jelica Shermika Moss” and Caroline Joseph by false pretences.

The final count was fraud by false pretences on November 13. It is alleged that a Haitian passport was obtained from the Haitian consulate for “Jelica Joseph” by means of false pretences.

The trio opted to have the matter heard in Magistrates Court. The 19-year-old woman pleaded not guilty

to all 13 charges, while Carline Moss, and Garfield Jamal Moss pleaded not guilty to the five charges.

The group was denied bail. Magistrate Vogt-Evans told the trio they can apply to Supreme Court for bail following a check on their immigration status.

They were all remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services (BDCS) until February 13, 2020 when they are to stand trial.

THE Shane Gibson bribery trial is expected to resume today after a couple of days of legal submissions in the absence of a jury.

The prosecution closed its case against Gibson on Tuesday.

The former labour minister is charged with 15 counts of bribery. It is alleged that between January 16 and 19, 2017 he and Deborah Bastian solicited over $200,000 from contractor Jonathan Ash as an inducement to or a reward for the politician giving assistance or using his influence to approve outstanding payments the government owed Mr Ash. The Crown also alleges that on various dates between January 19-31, 2017, Gibson, still concerned with Ms Bastian, accepted $100,000 of payments from Mr Ash; then, between January 30 and February 28 of 2017, Gibson allegedly accepted several cash payments from Mr Ash totaling some $100,000.

Between February 10 and March 27, 2017, Gibson solicited and accepted a total of $80,000 from Mr Ash, but this time he was not concerned with Ms Bastian, the Crown maintains.

The Crown claims Mr Ash initially made the payments to Gibson through the middlewoman for the first set of payments totaling $200,000, but made them directly to Gibson for the remaining $80,000.

Gibson has denied the allegations.

PAGE 6, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

BNT pleased to see threat of big fines

By SYANN THOMPSON Tribune Staff Reporter sthompson@tribunemedia.net BAHAMAS National Trust has applauded the government for presenting a package of environment bills in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, calling them some of “the most significant environmental legislation” to date.

Offenders can be fined up to $30m and jailed up to 10 years when the Environmental Planning and Protection Bill is passed into law.

Yesterday, Bahamas National Trust Executive Director Eric Carey said previous fines given to foreign poachers, for example, have not been a deterrent to keep them from plundering Bahamian territory.

“That fine given to the Dominicans wasn’t sufficient. I wouldn’t suggest a figure, but I would say our marine resources are critically important to sustaining us as a people.

Bahamian fishermen they generally abide by our

regulations and there are a lot of restrictions on them in respect to marine protected areas and closed seasons. They get very upset when we have these fines. But when a crew of 15-20 people (foreign poachers) collectively have to come up with several thousand dollars, that’s not a deterrent for the people that own these vessels,” Mr Carey said.

Last week, 17 Dominicans were fined several thousand dollars for being in possession of 2,943 pounds of marine products; some of them received a custodial sentence between three and nine months. Mr Carey confirmed that some of the crew were repeat offenders, adding some poachers have become accustomed to their cycles of returning to Bahamian waters.

“In the Dominican Republic are wealthy people and paying a fine like that, it’s easy for them, they can pay that fine, scrap another vessel together and in three, four, five months. Some of these

people will be back in the Bahamas on vessels fishing illegally again. In fact, in this crew arrested recently, there were several repeat offenders. So, if you don’t send the message of either giving them significant jail time and significant financial penalties up in the millions, then they’re not going to be deterred and they are going to feel it’s worth the risk to come to The Bahamas because if we get caught, so what. With one catch, they can easily make back that money,” he said.

He also said: “If we can get some of those milliondollar sports fishing vessels confiscated, we need to send a message to abusers of our environment that we are serious about enforcing and that we will apply the penalties of the law we think are needed, to effectively discourage people from breaking our environmental regulations.”

Mr Carey also spoke to amendments made in the Bahamas National Trust Bill 2019, saying the changes will allow for

SOME of the Dominican fishermen fined for being in protected waters several things including greater enforcement of national park rules.

“For example, fines can be issued on the spot for people who are breaking national park laws and we are also pleased that the government passed the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund because this will allow

them to sign agreements with the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund to be able to qualify for significant funding for the Bahamas,” he said.

The suites of bills introduced to the House of Assembly include the Ministry of the Environment Bill, the

Environmental Planning and Protection Bill, the Environmental Protection (Control of Plastic Pollution) Bill, the Bahamas National Trust (Amendment) Bill, the Bahamas Protected Areas Fund (Amendment) Bill and the Tariff (Amendment) (No 2) Bill.

know that we are very diligent about how our pine forest and environment is going to be cared for and cleaned up. We saw couple people from Equinor and there was a gentleman in the woods from Polaris (a clean-up firm) and we didn’t know who they were and the following day we actually had the opportunity to meet with them.

“We have an arrangement now, Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas have been given permission by them to meet with them regularly to monitor the clean-up. So, we met with them last week Friday and actually it was a meeting that took place right after they had met with the minister of the environment in Nassau.”

The environmentalist added: “When we went through the routes through the pine forest, which is about 1,200 to 1,500 acres of pine forest, the same scenes were there along the road. Pine needles from the pine trees that had fallen

were still saturated with oil.

We noticed a good number of the palmetto palms had actually died from the. . .oil spillage… this is something we anticipated.”

Still Mr Darville said environment activists were happy the situation is not worse. He said there has been no evidence of ground water contamination.

“The good thing coming out of our meeting with them was the fact that they had already sank a good number of wells around the area and we were happy to hear that there was no oil detection in the water of the wells and the other good thing was that the water, they were (to use their) technological equipment to determine that the water flow was from the north to south, “he said.

“Which meant that it was flowing up the pine forest towards the company itself which is on the coastal area on the south. That’s a good thing because that means that if the water is not migrating towards the

east which will be towards Mclean’s Towns or Pelican Bay or towards the west that’s a good sign.”

He added: “It means that if there were any pollutants in the water related to the oil spillage it means those areas their water table would not be saturated with that so that was a positive finding.”

In September, the roofs of two storage tanks at the Equinor facility blew off during Hurricane Dorian.

It was initially reported that more than 100,000 barrels of oil - five million gallons - was spilled. However, late last month the international energy said additional surveys were conducted by Equinor and two external companies. The surveys revealed the updated estimated volume of the oil spill at the South Riding Point terminal after the impact of Hurricane Dorian was 55,000 barrels (2.3 million gallons) - less than half the initial volume estimate of 119,000 barrels (5 million barrels.

SAVE THE BAYS CALLS FOR EQUINOR ON-SITE SPILL MONITORS from page one

occasions and has not seen any government official.

“I would like to see the presence daily of some representatives from the BEST Commission or the Environmental Department there on site. (During the) major clean-up of the 55,000 barrels of crude oil

I have yet— and all the times I’ve been going there watching what they were doing and how they were doing it — I have yet to see any official from our government or any of the departments there on site.

“I would say through the length and breadth of this clean-up on a daily basis there should be a representative from our government

on site making sure that our pine forest is brought to an appreciative level of where it was before Dorian and before this catastrophic oil spill.”

Mr Darville said Save the Bays and Waterkeepers Bahamas have developed a good relationship with Equinor.

He said: “We are on them like white on rice and they

Funeral Service For Mr. Don Dario Pratt Sr., 55 a resident of #8 Palmetto Place, Adelaide, will be held on Saturday November 23rd, 2019, 10:00 a.m., at New Mt Zion Missionary Baptist Church, Baillou Hill Road South. Officiating will be Rev. Dr. Neil A. Hamilton, assisted by other Ministers of the Gospel. Interment will follow in Woodlawn Gardens, Soldier Road.

Death Notice For

Mrs. Louise Enid Taylor, 75 a resident of Edelweiss Avenue, Garden Hills III, and formerly of North Palmetto Point, Eleuthera, died at The Princess Margaret Hospital on Monday November 11th, 2019.

She is survived by her husband: Henry Taylor; children: Allan Taylor, Ethel Capron, Jayne and Samuel Taylor; four grandchildren, two great grandchildren; brothers: Cyril Saunders and Michael Sands; sisters: Cindy Hall, Monica Saunders and Edna Turner; numerous nieces, nephews and a host of other relatives and friends too numerous to mention.

Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date.

THE TRIBUNE from page one that if in 2018, the government was $230m below its revenue target without Hurricane Dorian’s impact, this year he estimates there would be a greater shortfall.

Mr Cooper is also not convinced that the report gives an accurate indication of the government’s coffers.

“We also don’t believe this report includes a credible estimate of revenue collection, even with the Dorian adjustment. Last year, revenue was over $230m below target without any hurricane impacting the Bahamas. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, revenue performance was not significantly different from last year,” Mr Cooper said.

According to Mr Cooper, the government’s policies and mismanagement are more “likely to inflict pain on the Bahamian people”. While the PLP’s shadow finance minister stated that the devastation of Hurricane Dorian and the detrimental impact on government revenue and expenditure cannot be denied, the Fiscal Strategy Report was sorely lacking.

“Minister of Finance Peter Turnquest has failed miserably in trying to put a happy face on what was one of the bleakest statements on the government’s fiscal position that we have ever heard…but based on the prime minister’s own characterization, what we see is a lazy government lacking innovation that once again retreats to the pure madness of borrowing and taxation,” he said.

Mr Cooper is also critical

Friday, November 22, 2019, PAGE 7

We are in the worst fiscal shape we’ve ever been in, claims Cooper of the government’s focus on “managing deficits rather than improving the cost of living and fostering economic growth”. He said the government’s Fiscal Strategy Report is missing two areas of major impact to the Bahamian people.

He said: “We note that there appears to be two major omissions – firstly, there is no mention of the fiscal or economic impact of the pending electricity rate reduction bond. The impact of an electricity increase would likely reduce local consumption, which would reduce revenue while increasing what the government itself spends on electricity. Secondly, where does the report speak to the costs of this new potential borrowing given that it intends to raise $500 million to bolster government coffers and another $650 million to bail out BPL from the market at the same time? From whom will this money be borrowed and at what rate?”

The government’s Fiscal

OPPOSITION spokesman for finance Chester Cooper, left, and Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest, above Strategy Report tabled in the House of Assembly this week shows that the nine-figure deficit will continue for the next five years.

Despite the national debt soaring to 1.3 billion in five years, the deputy prime minister said this week that tourism arrivals partnered with foreign direct investment remains “on track” and will allow the country to shrug off Dorian’s devastating impact. He added to this that the economy will expand by 2.1 percent in 2021.

RIGHTS BAHAMAS COMMENDS PLP ON PRIDE SUPPORT RIGHTS Bahamas has commended the Progressive Liberal Party and its leader Phillip Davis for “their maturity, open-mindedness and inclusiveness” after the opposition party threw support behind next year’s gay pride event.

In a statement, RB said the stance “is a surprising breath of fresh air in what is usually a stagnant and backward political conversation, mired for decades in ignorance and intolerance.”

The advocacy group also

said: “The government must also be congratulated for giving official permission to the event’s organisers. Nevertheless, politicians from the FNM and the DNA would do well to follow Mr Davis’ example and declare their support for freedom of expression clearly and explicitly in connection with Pride 2020.

“The LGBTI community has been with us for as long as there has been a Bahamas, yet its members have been required to live in secrecy and silence.

ONE ARREST AFTER ANOTHER THREE ARMED ROBBERIES POLICE arrested one man moments after he knocked a woman to the ground and stole her purse and are looking for the suspects behind two other armed robberies and an attempted robbery.

The incidents all occurred on New Providence on Wednesday.

In the first incident, according to reports, shortly after 6am a woman was at Wild Guava Street, Pinewood Gardens when she was struck to the ground by a man driving a champagne coloured vehicle. The man stole her bag which contained cash, before speeding away. A police officer was a short distance away and saw the incident.

He chased after the vehicle and was successful in stopping it and arresting a 26-year-old male resident of Pinewood Gardens, police said.

Hours later, shortly after 6pm, a man had just arrived at a residence on Edward Avenue, off Jerome Avenue, when he was approached by

two armed men. The assailants held him up and stole a bag containing cash before escaping the scene in a silver Nissan March.

In the third incident, shortly before 9pm a man was sitting in his vehicle while in the parking lot of a food store on Alexandria Boulevard, Nassau Village when an armed man entered the car and demanded he leave. The victim ran from the car, taking the keys with him.

The gunman fired a shot at the victim, causing a minor wound to the arm, police said. However the gunman was not able to take anything during the incident.

Police said around the same time as the previous incident, shortly before 9pm, a woman was at a service station in the same area — Alexandria Boulevard, Nassau Village — when she was approached by a gunman who stole her white Nissan Note. Police later recovered the vehicle in Domingo Heights.

Investigations are ongoing.

WOMAN DRIVER DIES IN THREE-CAR SMASH A WOMAN died after her car was involved in a three-car crash in the Nassau Village area on Wednesday night.

The accident occurred shortly after 6pm at the junction of Alexandria Boulevard and Taylor Street in Nassau Village when a grey Chevy Malibu,

a silver Honda CRV and a white Nissan Serena had a collision. The female driver of the Chevy Malibu received serious injuries and died at the scene. The drivers of the other vehicles received minor injuries.

The RBPF’s Traffic Department is investigating this incident.

Pride 2020 symbolises the beginning of the end of this code of silence, forced upon a vulnerable minority by the rest; as such, it should be celebrated by all Bahamians who love freedom, fairness and justice.

“This event is long overdue. In an overwhelmingly homophobic society like the Bahamas, the LGBTQI community and those who support its rights

must speak with one voice against the victimisation, marginalisation and discrimination that members of this community face in virtually every sphere of life – sometimes subtle, more often overt – from employment to health care, housing to education.

“Pride 2020 is about celebrating freedom and self-expression. It is also about raising awareness

of the intimidation, violence and sexual assault to which LGBTQI persons are continually subjected.

Until we can speak openly in the sunshine about such matters, vulnerable individuals will continue to suffer unspeakable crimes in the shadows.”

RB also said: “Sadly, it is the church which is leading the opposition to this crucial event. Religious

leaders remain hugely influential in this society and we urge them not to continue to stoke the fires of hate and intolerance.

We ask them to follow the example of individuals such as Phillip Davis and especially Frederick McAlpine, a politician but also a pastor, in helping guide this nation towards a more kind, tolerant and inclusive future.”

PAGE 8, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

My heart is truly broken as I remember The Big Cup

YESTERDAY was one of the hardest days of my life. Shortly after 11.0am I received the call I was dreading.

Richard Bethel aka “The Big Cup” aka “The Midnight Mayor” aka “Uncle” had passed away. Gone, another victim to cancer, despite a valiant fight.

My heart is truly broken, the memories and jokes are innumerable, and will last a lifetime.

I’m sure when I get up from this and collect myself and my thoughts, I can put it all in perspective.

For now what I can say is that I lost a true friend, confidant, mentor and the big brother, I always wish I had growing up as an only child.

I know he’s looking down laughing as I pen this, seeing how he gave me strict instructions in his last days, “ No mushy stuff, Naughty.”

He also gave me instructions 22 years ago, “Stop being scary, you are funny, you need to come do stand up comedy at the Jokers Wild .”

So, after some persuasion, I took him up on the offer, and the rest is history.

I’m truly grateful for Richard being able to see in me, what I couldn’t see at the time.

More importantly he didn’t give me a job, he gave me a career.

Always in my ear, like Cus D’Amato taught Mike Tyson, Richard was in my ear, teaching the art and science of stand up comedy, along with the rules and all its nuances.

He truly shared in all my success, on stage and off, giving me more good advice when he met my girlfriend Jamie (who became my wife) back in 2002, after hearing me brag how “she’s the one.”

I remember him pulling me to the side and saying: “Ma bey you better not frig this up.”

I learned many things from my dear friend “The Big Cup”, most importantly to love your family and life, and to live it and love it to the fullest.

Take your rest “Uncle”, thank you for everything, and make sure and have the stage set for me on the other side.

It might take me a minute to get there, because you know us stand up comedians never see the light!

RICHARD Bethel aka “The Big Cup” aka “The Midnight Mayor” aka “Uncle” has passed away. Gone, another victim to cancer, despite a valiant fight.

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

Sally Ann Pratt Registrar of Marriages

‘GOV’T NOT WORKING FOR US’ AFTER— Deputy Prime Minister Peter Turnquest disagreed that The Bahamas faces a “grim” economic and fiscal outlook despite an increase in government debt being forecast, readers responded on tribune242.com.

Porcupine said: “This entire article shows that this government is entirely out of touch with reality.

The government works for itself, with seemingly not a concern for The People.

Their inability to grasp even basic financial realities and their less than truthful manner of dealing with objective trends leaves little room for even the barest optimism. The future does indeed look grim on many fronts, Mr Turnquest, especially with regards to the needs of the people. At this particular time, I would welcome anyone, even if they had no real answers, just to tell us the truth.

There are way too many factors: political, economic, fiscal and, indeed, environmental that are all pointing in the absolute wrong

direction. It is very likely that our children have no future in this country. Sad to think about, but so are many other stark realities.”

BahamaPundit posted this comment: “I have never felt The Bahamas to be so near to financial collapse. Time to have a backup strategy in other countries, because this is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

Chucky had this to say: “All governments everywhere are doing the same thing. Except for China and Russia which both have more cash in the bank every year.”

Exuma and Ragged Island MP Chester Cooper said the government’s upcoming ban on single-use plastics is being implemented too soon, prompting this comment from JackArawak: “Stop

importing banned products . . . the government controls the border . . . or do they?”

Dawes said: “They have been telling the public for longer than six months that this was coming in. As usual its only when you get close that people start to make noise. It is right to do and needs to happen.

This is like the recent traffic laws, everyone saying they weren’t informed they are no longer allowed to use their cell phones whilst driving, but somehow they magically know they can turn left on red.”

And there was this from Sickened: “Chester says it’s too soon. LOL! He’s embarrassing himself just for the sake of arguing.

Chester . . . it’s better to be quiet than to argue against a good idea. This ban has been talked about for most of this year . . . maybe even from last year. We are not the first country to do it either.”

Don’t miss your chance to join the debate on tribune242.com.

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

Sally Ann Pratt

Sally Ann Pratt

Registrar of Marriages

Registrar of Marriages

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 22, 2019, PAGE 9

SERVICE & CONDUCT AWARDS

THE BAHAMAS Department of Correctional Services held its Long Service & Good Conduct Award Ceremony in the Lower Grounds, Government House yesterday. Governor General CA Smith presented the medals to officers of 18 to 30 years of service. Marvin Dames, pictured left, Minister of National Security, said some words.

Photos: Letisha Henderson/BIS

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

By LEANDRA ROLLE lrolle@tribunemedia.net NEARLY 100 law enforcement officers were awarded medals yesterday for having long service and being in good conduct within the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services.

The ceremony, held at Government House, recognised and honoured some 85 correctional officers who have been in service to the department for 18 years or more.

Medals were presented

by Governor General Cornelius A Smith. While they were being distributed, many attendees cheered and gave shouts of happiness in support of their loved ones being honoured at the prestigious event.

Speaking to The Tribune yesterday, principal corrections officer Merelda Barr, who was recognised for over 18 years of service, said she was grateful to have been honoured for her contributions to the Bahamian society.

“I was very excited and elated to receive this longtime service award of 19 years. When I joined, they said they never hired small people but I made the way for all the small persons,” she said.

“You had to have been tall. You couldn’t have been small or short so I made the pathway for all small persons and its such an honour and privilege to be from prison officer to correctional officer. And I thank God for everything I’ve accomplished so far.”

Speaking at the medal ceremony yesterday, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames congratulated the officers for their faithful and dedicated service to their country.

“I know that the job you’re called upon to perform is not the most glamorous and many could not function in your capacity, but you have remained faithful and dedicated to the press and other acts of intimidation, discouragement, challenges and

criticisms. This is an eloquent testament to your sense of duty, commitment and indeed patriotism,” he said. “... On behalf of the Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis, the government and the people of a grateful nation, I extend congratulations to each of you on your accomplishments.”

In his address, Mr Dames also noted that it is a privilege for him to lead such exceptional officers.

“Your role in offender rehabilitation is one that is not taken lightly by our government. (So), commendations and medals are some of the formal mechanisms that we will continue to utilise to express our gratitude to you for continuing to render exceptional national service,” he continued.

According to the national security minister, a total of 215 correctional officers have been awarded medals for long service and good conduct so far for the year.

Sally Ann Pratt Registrar of Marriages

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

FORM B Notice of Intended Marriage (Section 7(3))

Sally Ann Pratt

Sally Ann Pratt

Registrar of Marriages

Registrar of Marriages

PAGE 10, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

Our brave new world where we can vanish into a screen

WHAT you can find on Disney’s new streaming service. Right: Diane Phillips at the launch in New York WHEN Disney launched its streaming service on November 12, 10 million people signed up the first day, a subscription rush so much faster than expected it caused the system to crash.

That hiccup was quickly fixed to the delight of families who could soon settle down and watch Toy Story 4 as many times as they wanted for a monthly fee.

A short time after the sign-up process was back up and running, news (apparently fake) broke that every one of those 10 million who signed up had been hacked. The fear, had the hacking been actual, should have been enough to slow down the crush, but nothing it seems can stop the race to get the latest, best content for the buck, entertainment for the kids, or mind-numbing material for those of any age in the new highly intense and suddenly insanely competitive world of video streaming.

What began with Netflix as a subscription service (SVOD, subscription video

on demand) and YouTube (AVOD, advertising-based video on demand) has mushroomed into an industry hungry for talent, content, market share edge and above all, audience loyalty. It is hard to fathom how far and how fast the video streaming world has come until you stop and realise that the 1999 version of the mini-encyclopedia of the world did not even contain the words. Yet short of 20 years later, what we see on the screen and what that screen blasts in our faces has begun to consume our lives.

This week I had the distinct pleasure, thanks to a very special friend, of attending a conference

at the Paley Centre for Media in New York. The conference title was Agility in Media and featured impressive leaders from Netflix, Discovery Channel, Samsung and nearly every segment of entertainment, sports and news along with those who made or delivered the news.

Organisers did a masterful job of putting the conference together and it ran like clockwork. Names read like a who’s who of media in front of or behind the scenes - Henry Kissinger, former White House Chief of Staff and the man who ran five presidential campaigns James Baker, FBI Director Christopher Wray, NBC and MSNBC’s

Willie Geist, President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haas, NFL’s Roger Goodell and CBS’ The NFL Today host James Brown, the chairman of Murdoch (Sunday Times among the holdings), Frank Bennack, Chairman of the Paley Centre and Executive VP of Hearst publications.

Only 120 invitations were issued to attend so the mere fact that I was in the small circle of media moguls, dignitaries, diplomats, forward thinkers and newsmakers was an honour and I was proud to say Bahamian during every introduction and conversation. I doubt that anyone else there realised the man after whom the centre is named, William Paley who transformed a small radio network into what we know today at CBS - had a second home in The Bahamas where he spent more and more of his time as he got older or that Henry Kissinger rents a home in western New Providence every winter. Just a little aside that no matter where you go there’s always a touch of The Bahamas and Bahamian pride is warranted even in the highest circles. As I said, an aside, not the main point.

Despite the masterful organisation and the comprehensive and timely nature of the conference, I could not help but leave more worried than assured.

If all this tech energy, awesome imagination and these people in whom we place our intellectual trust are singing about how fast news gets delivered, how important content is to gain loyalty, how the world is becoming addicted to what flashes across a screen, large or small, are they not dancing around the more serious consequence of this addiction to an agile media delivery system – that it is turning us into a nation of passive absorbers, walking couch potatoes.

We will be able to grab the news like we grab a bite to eat, on the go. Fast food.

Fast news. Fast movie.

Fast golf (now on Discovery since they bought Golf Digest).

Our predictable addiction to various streaming services is not all that surprising. Look how the popularity of influencers and bloggers saved us all the trouble of having to think for ourselves. There will be tremendous benefit from streaming. One of the leading providers is working

on a vacation setting that subsumes your living room so, in case you can’t get to a Hawaiian sunset, it will come to you. Subscribe and dial it in. Your room will fill with the light and beauty of a land that is delivered to your doorstep.

None of the above is a criticism of the remarkable capability of tech companies in the entertainment business. Their achievements are mind-boggling and will only grow their businesses. But how much we absorb from without instead of creating from within comes with a price.

The future promises life on the go wherever you are, flashing by on a screen as big as a living room wall or as tiny as an iPhone or Apple watch face. No need to think. No time to ponder or wonder. All you need to listen to, learn and absorb for the day will be handed to you on a mobile device, along with all the movies you will ever want to watch and all you need to do is subscribe, choose a channel and let life pass you by.

Do subscribe, there’s amazing stuff coming your way, but watch with care.

Not all forms of addiction are inhaled or taken by mouth.

THE TRIBUNE

Friday, November 22, 2019, PAGE 11

DEBATE CLASH ON RACE PUSHES ISSUE TO FOREFRONT FOR DEMOCRATS ATLANTA Associated Press DEMOCRATIC presidential candidates put race at the forefront of their primary scramble yesterday, punctuated by a tense exchange between Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris after the white mayor connected his experiences as a gay man to black Americans’ long struggle against racism.

Harris, one of three black candidates seeking the nomination, criticized Buttigieg in a post-debate event in Atlanta, calling him “naive” and lambasting him for comparing the struggles of the black and LGBTQ communities. A Democrat who wants a winning coalition “should not be in position of saying one group’s pain is equal than or greater to another,” said Harris.

Buttigieg, the white mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who wed his husband, Chasten, last year, countered that he was not comparing the travails of the LGBTQ community and black America, but instead speaking up for one discriminated class based on his experiences in another.

The exchange highlights the importance of the black vote in the Democratic nomination process and both candidates’ struggles to win them over. It also threatens to expose an uneasy relationship in the party’s civil rights coalition, as Democrats increasingly recognize LGBTQ rights as a priority alongside their decadeslong alignment with the civil rights movement for African Americans.

Harris and Buttigieg are among

several Democratic candidates trying to dent former Vice President Joe Biden’s advantage among black Democrats. Biden yesterday met with a group of prominent black Southern mayors, including Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance-Bottoms, who has emerged as one of his top campaign surrogates.

Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts held dueling rallies on Atlanta’s historically black college campuses, pitching their progressive policy slates to a younger African American audience that is viewed as up for grabs.

Buttigieg has surged to an apparent lead in overwhelmingly white Iowa, which holds the nation’s first caucus Feb. 3, but he

Netanyahu charged with corruption JERUSAL Associated Press ISRAEL Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was indicted yesterday in a series of corruption cases, throwing the country’s paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening his 10-year grip on power. He rejected calls to resign, angrily accusing prosecutors of staging “an attempted coup.”

The first-ever charges against a sitting Israeli prime minister capped a three-year investigation, with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit indicting Netanyahu for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.

“A day in which the attorney general decides to serve an indictment against a seated prime minister for serious crimes of corrupt governance is a heavy and sad day, for the Israeli

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU public and for me personally,” Mandelblit, who was appointed by Netanyahu, told reporters.

The indictment does not require the 70-year-old Netanyahu to resign, but it significantly weakens him at a time when Israel’s political parties appear to be limping toward a third election in under a year.

An ashen-faced Netanyahu appeared on national TV late yesterday, claiming he was the victim of a grand

conspiracy by police and prosecutors who had intimidated key witnesses into testifying against him.

He defiantly claimed the indictment stemmed from “false accusations” and a systematically “tainted investigation,” saying the country was witnessing an “attempted coup” against him.

“Police and investigators are not above the law,” he said. “The time has come to investigate the investigators.”

Netanyahu is desperate to remain in office to fight the charges. Under Israeli law, public officials are required to resign if charged with a crime. But that law does not apply to the prime minister, who can use his office as a bully pulpit against prosecutors and try to push parliament to grant him immunity from prosecution.

MOUNTING PRESSURE ON PRINCE

LONDON Associated Press

BRITAIN’S disgraced Prince Andrew is facing mounting calls to provide information to US law enforcement agencies and to lawyers who are investigating crimes committed

by American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.

Lawyers for Epstein’s victims believe the prince may have valuable information about the late financier’s sex offenses. When Epstein died in August, he was

facing charges of trafficking in underage girls who provided sexual favors to the powerful men visiting his luxury properties in the Caribbean, and elsewhere.

The 59-year-old prince stepped down from his royal duties on Wednesday with the approval of his mother, Queen Elizabeth, after a weekend interview in which he tried to justify his well-documented ties to Epstein backfired spectacularly.

Charities and British educational institutions that had fundraising ties to the prince

— the royal website lists dozens — had quickly begun to question if he could actually hurt their brands.

He still may face legal questioning about allegations that he had sex with a girl provided by Epstein when she was just 17, a charge he has denied and that she insists is true.

US attorney Gloria Allred, who represents some of the women abused by Epstein, said that Andrew should contact American authorities “without conditions and without delay.”

SEN. Kamala Harris

and his aides acknowledge that he needs to improve on his negligible support in the black community in other states if he hopes to become the nominee. Harris is still trying to crack the top tier in Iowa and beyond, and she used the Atlanta debate Wednesday to make a direct appeal to black women while pitching herself as the ideal nominee to rebuild the multiracial coalition that twice sent Barack Obama to the Oval Office.

The Buttigieg-Harris flap spun off the mayor saying Wednesday night during a discussion of race that he’s often “felt like a stranger” in his own country — a version of a point he makes frequently on the campaign trail when he says he understands what it’s like to watch politicians argue over his civil rights.

PAGE 12, Friday, November 22, 2019

THE TRIBUNE

FORMER White House national security aide Fiona Hill, and David Holmes, a US diplomat in Ukraine, right, walk to their seats to testify before the House Intelligence Committee yesterday

Ex security adviser tells Trump to stop peddling in fiction WASHINGTON Associated Press A FORMER White House official said yesterday that President Donald Trump’s top European envoy was sent on a “domestic political errand” seeking investigations of Democrats, stunning testimony that dismantled a main line of the president’s defence in the impeachment inquiry.

In a riveting appearance on Capitol Hill, Fiona Hill also implored Republican lawmakers — and implicitly Trump himself — to stop peddling a “fictional narrative” at the center of the impeachment probe. She said baseless suggestions that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election bolster Russia as it seeks to sow political divisions in the United States.

Testimony from Hill and David Holmes, a State Department adviser in Kyiv, capped an intense week in the historic inquiry and reinforced the central complaint: that Trump used his leverage over Ukraine, a young Eastern European democracy facing Russian aggression, to pursue political investigations.

His alleged actions set off alarms across the U.S. national security and foreign policy apparatus.

Hill had a front row seat to some of Trump’s pursuits with Ukraine during her tenure at the White House.

She testified in detail about her interactions with Gordon Sondland, saying she initially suspected the US ambassador to the European Union was overstating his authority to push Ukraine to launch investigations into Democrats. But she says she now understands he was acting on instructions Trump sent through his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani.

“He was being involved in a domestic political errand, and we were being involved in national security foreign policy,” she testified in a daylong encounter with lawmakers.

“And those two things had just diverged.”

It was just one instance in which Hill, as well as Holmes, undercut the arguments being made by Republicans and the White House. Both told House investigators it was abundantly clear Giuliani was seeking political investigations of Democrats and Joe Biden in Ukraine, knocking down assertions from earlier witnesses who said they didn’t realize the purpose of the lawyer’s pursuits.

Trump has also said he was simply focused on rooting out corruption in Ukraine.

Giuliani “was clearly pushing forward issues and ideas that would, you know, probably come back to haunt us and in fact,” Hill testified. “I think that’s where we are today.”

Hill also defended Lt.

Col. Alexander Vindman, the Army officer who testified earlier and whom Trump’s allies tried to discredit. A previous witness said Hill raised concerns about Vindman, but she said those worries centered only on whether he had the “political antenna” for the situation at the White House.

The landmark House impeachment inquiry was sparked by a July 25 phone call, in which Trump asked Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy for investigations into Biden and the Democratic National Committee. A still-anonymous whistleblower’s official government complaint about that call led the House to launch the current probe.

After two weeks of public testimony, many Democrats believe they have enough evidence to begin writing articles of impeachment.

Working under the assumption that Trump will be impeached by the House, White House officials and a small group of GOP senators met Thursday to discuss the possibility of a two week Senate trial.

There still remain questions about whether there will be additional House testimony, either in public session or behind closed doors, including from high-profile officials such as former Trump national security adviser John Bolton.