Reggae Boyz upset Mexico to qualify for Gold Cup final
Kemar Lawrence scored on an exquisite 24-yard free kick in the 88th minute, and Jamaica advanced to the CONCACAF Gold Cup final with a 1-0 upset victory over Mexico on Sunday night.
Jamaica will face the United States on Wednesday night at Santa Clara, California. The Reggae Boyz are seeking their first championship in soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region.
Jamaica goalkeeper Andre Blake kept the game scoreless with a series of saves while Mexico dominated possession despite missing most of their top players.
Lawrence's late strike froze goalkeeper Jesus Corona. The ball rose past a five-man wall and curled into the left corner just below the bar for the New York Red Bulls defender's third career international goal and first in three years.
The Reggae Boyz have reached the final for the second straight Gold Cup tournament, but this stunning upset at the Rose Bowl ranks among their biggest international wins. Mexico has won seven Gold Cup titles, the U.S. five and Canada one.
Trying to win their second consecutive Gold Cup and fourth in five tournaments, Mexico used the deeper reaches of their player pool following the World Cup qualifiers and the Confederations Cup last month. While teams were allowed to make up to six substitutions for the knockout rounds, El Tri coach Juan Carlos Osorio said he was blocked by Mexico's clubs.
Mexico hadn't trailed in the tournament before Lawrence's late goal, but El Tri also hadn't been impressive — no player scored more than one goal. That lack of finishing skill ultimately cost Mexico, which failed to advance to the Gold Cup final for just the second time in the last six tournaments.
The crowd was dominated by Mexico's vast Southern California fan base, but the Rose Bowl was less than half-full with just 42,393 fans. The absence of Chicharito Hernandez and other top Mexican stars, combined with El Tri's unattractive performances in the Gold Cup to date, apparently kept many of their usual faithful at home.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino watched the semifinal from the Rose Bowl stands. So did Osorio, who served the fifth game of a six-match FIFA ban for his conduct toward officials during the Confederations Cup.
Blake made two brilliant saves in succession in the 12th minute, diving twice to stop close-range chances by Jesus Duenas and Erick Torres, the Houston Dynamo star and the only player on the current roster from outside Mexico's domestic leagues.
Blake did it again in the 25th minute, stopping Torres' point-blank header from the top of the 6-yard box with improbably quick reactions.
Jesus Molina sent Blake crashing to the ground with aerial contact in the 34th minute while competing for a ball in the box, but Jamaica rallied and forced Corona to make his own diving stop in the 38th minute off a free kick.
Jesus Gallardo's 22-yard free kick also was punched away adroitly in the 65th minute by Blake for his sixth official save.
Jamaica got a chance in the 56th minute, but substitute Ricardo Morris' 14-yard shot went straight to Corona. Damion Lowe got another golden chance with a sharp header off a free kick in the 78th minute, but Corona dived to swat it away.
Adobe to kill off Flash plug-in by 2020
Adobe Systems has said that it plans to phase out its Flash Player plug-in by the end of 2020.
The technology was once one of the most widely used ways for people to watch video clips and play games online.
But it also attracted much criticism, particularly as flaws in its code meant it became a popular way for hackers to infect computers.
In recent years, much of its functionality has been offered by the rival HTML5 technology.
One of HTML5's benefits is that it can be used to make multimedia content available within webpages without requiring users to install and update a dedicated plug-in.
Decline and fall
Apple was one of Flash's most vocal critics. The late Steve Jobs once wrote a public letter about its shortcomings, highlighting concerns about its reliability, security and performance.
The plug-in was never supported by Apple's iOS mobile devices.
Adobe's vice president of product development, Govind Balakrishnan, said the firm had chosen to end Flash because other technologies, such as HTML5, had "matured enough and are capable enough to provide viable alternatives to the Flash player."
He added: "Few technologies have had such a profound and positive impact in the internet era."
Apps developer Malcolm Barclay, who had worked on Flash in its early days, told the BBC: "It fulfilled its promise for a while but it never saw the mobile device revolution coming and ultimately that's what killed it."
When Adobe acquired Flash in its 2005 purchase of Macromedia, the technology was on more than 98% of personal computers.
But on Chrome, now the most popular web browser, Flash's usage has fallen off dramatically.
In 2014 it was used each day by 80% of desktop users, according to Google. The current figure is just 17%.
"This trend reveals that sites are migrating to open-web technologies, which are faster and more power-efficient than Flash," Google added. "They're also more secure."
Google phased out full support for Flash software at the end of last year.
Mr Balakrishnan said it did not expect the demise of Flash to affect profits at Adobe.
"We think the opportunity for Adobe is greater in a post-Flash world," he said.
But the firm added that it remained committed to support Flash up until the end of 2020 "as customers and partners put their migration plans into place".
Justin Bieber cancels rest of Purpose World Tour? Due to unforeseen circumstances?
Justin Bieber is scrapping the rest of his Purpose World Tour dates.
The singer’s rep confirms in a statement, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, Justin Bieber will cancel the remainder of the Purpose World Tour concerts.”
The statement goes on to say, “Justin loves his fans and hates to disappoint them. He thanks his fans for the incredible experience of the Purpose World Tour over last 18 months. He is grateful and honored to have shared that experience with his cast and crew for over 150 successful shows across 6 continents during this run.”
It continues, “However, after careful consideration he has decided he will not be performing any further dates. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.”
The tour kicked off March 9 in Seattle and had 15 shows left, including stadium dates in Texas, Colorado and New Jersey, and a handful of international stops in Japan, Singapore and the Philippines.
Who is Gilbert Morris, and why did CANTO invite him?
With all due respect to Mr Dos Equis, Gilbert NMO Morris might be the most interesting man in the world. And you need only browse his social media pages to see why.
He not only teases his friends and followers with hints of a jet-set life, but also comments on topics so varied he makes Renaissance men look like Neanderthals.
But perhaps his most distinctive meme is the extent to which he goes to advertise his academic achievements. You might think of it as showing off his brains the way the Kardashians show off their butts.
For example, the Intro on his Facebook page reads like the CV of a man who knows as much about ten academic disciplines as most graduate students know about one. As if to preempt any question, he actually introduces himself as “Professor, Financial Centre Expert, Economist, Diplomat, Writer”.
Surely that is impressive enough. But he then informs the world that he has “studied” the History of Medicine, International Trade Relations, Philosophy, Logic and the Scientific Method, Political Science, Law, Linguistics, Mathematics, and Theology.
What does it say about Morris, a man in his mid-50s, that he highlights his Facebook page with subjects he studied in school over a quarter century ago? And what are we to make of the care he takes to share that he studied them at some of the most prestigious schools in America and England, including Harvard and Oxford, respectively?
But those academic highlights are modest compared with entries in professional profiles he shares elsewhere (e.g., on Wikipedia, LinkedIn, and Bloomberg). They include his professional bona fides as a lawyer, economist, and publisher; citations for his masters and doctorate degrees; the claim that “Dr Morris taught history, law, philosophy, economics and finance at a variety of American and English universities”; and intriguing claims about being a diplomat, luxury property designer, Taoist, and Rastafarian.
Lest he gives the impression that he lives a purely intellectual and ascetic lifestyle, Morris disabuses his friends and followers of that with this pithy insight: “Life must be as cool as juice & gin; as serious as an executioner and as simple as butterflies. I am.” Of course, it is debatable whether his predilection for “liking” flattery-seeking women on Facebook, indiscriminately, is either cool or serious.
Still, all of the above presumably explains why the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO) thought Morris would be a terrific draw for its 33rd Annual Conference in the Dominican Republic last week. They invited him to lecture on “The Estonian Model: Disruptive Technology, Prosperity and the Possibilities of ‘Digital Democracy.’” This, interestingly enough, had him sharing the wonders of artificial intelligence.
Morris made a viral show of this invitation. This included publishing a customized poster on his social media pages highlighting the fact that Caribbean heads of state, government ministers, CEOs, and other distinguished guests would be attending to hang on his every word. But, perhaps to put most of them in their place, his poster boasted, “Already, Professor Morris’ lecture is slated as one of the main highlights of the Conference.”
Given that we felt obliged to run a feature hailing him as easily the most buzzed about speaker at this year’s conference. But, shockingly, it did not take more than a few keyboard strokes for our researcher to encounter glaring red flags.
This is where Morris became a far more interesting man than we could have imagined. It compelled us to reconsider that feature.
• Morris holds himself out as a professor. He claims to have taught a variety of subjects at a variety of American and English universities. But we could find no record of Morris ever attaining a professorship.
(George Mason University in Virginia confirmed a stint as an adjunct professor in its African American Studies department over 20 years ago. But Morris claiming to be a professor based on that is like someone claiming to be a doctor based on a medical internship, with no further training or accreditation.)
• Morris holds himself out as a doctor. He appears regularly on a talk show in The Bahamas where the host not only introduces him as Dr Gilbert Morris, but hails him as the Dr Kissinger of The Bahamas. But we could find no record of Morris ever attaining a Ph.D.
• Morris holds himself out as a lawyer. He even claims to have taught law. But we could find no record of Morris ever attaining a law degree.
• Morris holds himself out as an economist. CANTO billed him as such. Be we could find no record of Morris ever attaining an economics degree.
On and on it went, with institution after institution reporting either to have had no association with him or that he is grossly misrepresenting his association. We never bothered to research the aristocratic pretenses behind identifying himself on Twitter as “@MorrisMedici” and naming his nominal book publishing company “Choses de Myrtle”.
But our research indicates that Morris is so cavalier with these misrepresentations that, if you have merely exchanged pleasantries with him, you are probably familiar with one or two of them.
In any event, we soon arrived at the point where it became imperative to ask Morris for clarification on some of the more glaring ones. To this end we sent him the following questions:
1. Where and when did you get your doctorate degree(s) and your degree in economics?
2. Where did you acquire your professorship?
3. Where are you teaching today, and are you tenured?
4. Besides teaching at George Mason University, when and at which universities in America and England did you teach law and finance?
5. When and in what subject did you lecture at Georgetown University?
6. When and for whom did you clerk at the US Court of Appeals?
7. When were you called to the Bar of England and Wales, and when did you become a member of Grays Inns of Court?
8. When did you serve as a scholar at Mansfield College, Oxford?
9. Can you provide some basic details on Grupo No. 9 re type of work, clients, your personnel, other board members, and office address and phone contact?
10. How long have you lived in Curitiba, Brazil?
11. When and where did you live as a Carmelite mon
We gave him ample time to reply. We advised, however, that we would take his failure to answer them as an indication that he declined to comment. He never replied.
Meanwhile, we informed CANTO about our findings well in advance of the date set for Morris to deliver his lecture, asking for comment. The general secretary responded almost immediately, expressing surprise and promising to get back to us. She never replied.
What does it say about CANTO’s regard for its fiduciary duty that it would subject Caribbean heads of state, government ministers, CEOs, and other distinguished guests to a man lecturing them under patently false pretenses?
There was considerable debate among our editorial staff about why Morris would perpetrate such brazen academic and professional misrepresentations. Some made immediate comparisons with Donald J. Trump. They speculated that, just as Trump clearly believed he could lie and bluff his way to the White House, Morris clearly believed he could lie and bluff his way to this CANTO conference. Their sense is that both men seem wedded to the maxim that the bigger the lie and the more you tell it, the more likely people are to believe it.
But this observation by a reliable source probably sums up best what our findings say about Morris:
“Gilbert makes a good impression. Everyone from government ministers in the Turks and Caicos Islands to his friends on Facebook will tell you that. But Bernie Madoff made a good impression too. Everyone from bankers on Wall Street to his friends in the Jewish community will tell you that. Come to think of it, Gilbert might just be to intellectual fraud what Madoff was to financial fraud.”
Ultimately, though, Morris’s march to CANTO says almost as much about his hosts as it does about him. Therefore, in addition to questioning him about his misrepresentations, we feel obliged to question those who have bought them over the years hook, line, and sinker.
But here is a test, which this self-professed professor might appreciate:
Morris claims to be a linguist who speaks Latin and conversational Spanish. If you speak either of them, seize any opportunity to converse with him and see how he fares. We suspect you will get an immediate lesson in the spectre of artificial intelligence. Of course, anyone can ask him any of our 11 questions and get some of the same; provided you press him beyond initial glib responses.
His friends and followers on social media seem either too servile or too stupid to tell this emperor he wears no clothes. But we have a journalistic duty to call him out in the public interest.
Reggae Boyz Beat Canada 2-1 in Quarter-final Showdown
PHOENIX, Arizona — Shaun Francis and Romario Williams struck goals in either half as Jamaica downed Canada 2-1 to book a place in Sunday's semi-finals of the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament here inside the University of Phoenix Stadium last night.
The Reggae Boyz will now await the winner of the second game between Mexico and Honduras for Sunday's showdown inside the famed Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Co-incidentally, Mexico defeated Jamaica 2-0 at the same venue last year in the Copa Centenario.
Jamaica went ahead in the sixth minute when Darren Mattocks broke behind the Canadian defence on the right and the Portland Timbers frontman raced into the penalty area slightly to the right and pulled the ball back for the onrushing Francis to slam home with the help of the underside of the crossbar.
The North Americans replied shortly after with Orlando City striker Cyle Larin flashing a header inches wide of Andre Blake's left hand post, with the Philadelphia Union goaltender rooted to his spot.
And, though surrendering much of the pitch to Canada, the Jamaicans continued to threaten on the break as Mattocks was played in behind the defence from the left hand channel by Williams. But, after racing clear into the penalty area, goalkeeper Milan Borjan advanced off his line to thwart the wily striker.
And, on the half-hour mark, Alvas Powell, who has been a threat with his overlapping runs down the right channel, cut inside two defenders and unleashed a grounded left-footer, which Borjan did just enough to turn behind for a corner.
Shortly after, Mattocks spun on a dime deep inside the penalty area to face Borjan, but a retreating defender got enough onto the ball to play it behind for a corner before Mattocks could pull the trigger.
As the half drew to a close Larin tested Blake with a rasping drive which the Philadelphia Union goaltender collected on the second attempt.
The Boyz added to their advantage on 50 minutes when a Kemar Lawrence throw-in was collected by Mattocks, who held off his defender before serving the arriving Williams on a platter, and the powerful striker didn't hesitate before curling in a peach of a right-footer out of the reach of the flailing arms of Borjan.
And with the tails high, Mattocks, who really deserved a goal for his outstanding performance on the night, almost did just that, after knifing his way past two defenders inside the penalty box and setting up himself for a curling right-footer which the Canadian goalie just managed to tip around his left hand post for another corner.
Then the Boyz lost control and Canada reduced the deficit when David Hoilett, who turned down the chance to play for Jamaica, curled home a beauty in the 61st minute, despite the great attempt by Blake.
And on 71 minutes Hoilett was given the freedom of time and space to unleash at Blake, who proved equal to the task.
Blake, the Jamaican captain, was called on a couple of times thereafter to keep his team in front as they head to California today for Sunday's semi-finals.
Teams:
Jamaica – Andre Blake, Damion Lowe, Alvas Powell, Shaun Francis (Cory Burke 67th), Darren Mattocks, Je-Vaughn Watson, Kevon Lambert (Michjael Binns 90th+), Owayne Gordon, Kemar Lawrence, Jermaine Taylor, Romario Williams (Ladale Richie 81st)
Subs not used: Rosario Harriott, Sergio Campbell, Oniel Fisher, Ewan Grandison, Dwayne Miller, Shamar Nicholson, Jermaine Johnson, Ricardo Morris, Damion Hyatt
Booked: Lambert (73rd)
Canada – Milan Borjan, Dejan Jakovic, Samuel Piette, Russell Teibert, Scott Arfield, David Hoilett. Alphanso Davies (Anthony Jackson-Hamel 82nd), Marcel De Jong, Steven Vitoria (Manjrekar James 56th), Michael Petrasso, Cyle Larin (Lucas Cavallini 56th)
Subs not used: Maxime Crepeau, Fraser Aird, Samuel Adekugbe, Tosaint Ricketts, Mark Kaye, Adam Straith, Patrice Bernier, Jonathan Osorio, Jayson Leutwiler
Booked: Victoria (15th)
Referee: Ricardo Montero (Costa Rica)
Assistant Referees: Juan Carlos Mora (Costa Rica), Keytzel Corrales (Nicaragua)
Fourth Official: Yadel Martinez (Cuba)
Match Commissioner: Yves Jean-Bart (Haiti)
- IAN BURNETT, SPORT EDITOR with theREGGAE BOYZ @ The CONCACAF Gold Cup in the USA
OJ Simpson in protective custody at prison after being granted parole
O.J. Simpson is now in protective custody at Lovelock Correctional Center in Nevada, having been moved to a separate part of the prison and removed from the general population, according to Nevada Department of Corrections spokesperson Brooke Keast.
Keast confirmed to ABC News today that the 70-year-old former football star has been moved as a precautionary measure, due to his notoriety and the attention given his parole hearing Thursday.
A group of four commissioners granted parole to Simpson after he served the minimum nine years of his 33-year sentence for a 2007 kidnapping and armed robbery incident in Las Vegas. Simpson, who expressed both defiance and gratitude at the hearing, could be released as early as Oct. 1.
The commissioners gave the following reasons for granting parole: Simpson has no or minimal prior conviction history, he has stable release plans, he has community and/or family support, he has a positive institutional record, he participated in programs specific to addressing behavior that led to incarceration, and his victim is in support of his parole.
Simpson was sentenced to prison after he allegedly led a group of men into a hotel and casino to steal sports memorabilia at gunpoint. He contended the memorabilia and other personal items belonged to him, and he denied ever holding a gun or threatening the robbery victims.
Bruce Fromong, one of the robbed memorabilia dealers and a victim in the case, spoke in Simpson’s favor at the parole hearing. He admitted the hotel room did contain items that belong to Simpson, but said that on the day of the robbery, "Simpson was misguided" and that he "never held a gun on me."
In fact, Fromong called Simpson his "friend."
In an exclusive interview today on ABC News' "Good Morning America," Fromong said he believes Simpson "has served his time" and deserves parole.
"O.J. has served his time," Fromong told "GMA" co-anchor. "I had told the [district attorney] at the time I had felt like one to three years was a proper sentence for it."
"It wasn't O.J. who put the gun to my head," Fromong added. "He was also the one who said, 'Put the gun down, put the gun down.'"
In another interview on "GMA" today, Dr. Henry Johnson said Simpson, his longtime friend whom he visited in prison, was "unjustly found guilty."
- ABC News' Matt Gutman contributed to this report.
Minister of Sports congratulates Mrs. Rita Gardiner on being presented the CGF Award Of Merit
The ministry responsible for Sports congratulates Mrs. Rita Gardiner
The Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services extends heartfelt congratulations to Mrs. Rita Gardiner on achieving the Commonwealth Games Award of Merit.
The Commonwealth Games Federation awards membership of the Order of Merit for distinguished services rendered to the Commonwealth Games movement, including the games themselves, to the federation and to a Commonwealth Games Association. The honour is awarded on the recommendation of the Executive Board at the General Assembly.
The recipients of this special award are individuals whose voluntary contribution and achievements have significantly impacted on society and its work, or represent the society in an exemplary way, in particular in the fields of sport and youth.
"Mrs. Gardiner is well deserving of this award for all the hard work and dedication she gave to the world of sports," said the Minister responsible for Sports, Hon. Karen Malcolm who also commented that Mrs. Gardiner, a trailblazer in many ways, has committed extensive time and knowledge as she travelled and worked with athletes from all disciplines of sport.
"I am proud that my government has redoubled efforts to support all sports. We are making provisions to enhance opportunities for all athletes to participate in sports and to ensure athletes and coaches have access to the training and competition opportunities," Hon. Karen Malcolm further stated.
The Ministry responsible for Sports is thrilled that Mrs. Gardiner received this accolade for her outstanding service to sports, including her years of commitment to the Games movement and expresses thanks to her for her many years of service to sports.
The Ministry of Education, Youth, Sports and Library Services also extends best wishes to the team of young men and their coaches who travelled to Puerto Rico this weekend to represent the country in Puerto Rico International Basketball Tournament.
END
After cancer diagnosis, John McCain says he'll be back soon
Arizona Sen. John McCain, who is at home recovering from surgery after being diagnosed with a brain tumor, tweeted Thursday that he will be back on Capitol Hill soon.
"I greatly appreciate the outpouring of support," the Republican senator wrote on Twitter. "Unfortunately for my sparring partners in Congress, I'll be back soon, so stand-by!"
McCain's office and the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Phoenix announced Wednesday night that McCain had surgery on Friday to remove a blood clot above his left eye.
"Subsequent tissue pathology revealed that a primary brain tumor known as a glioblastoma was associated with the blood clot," the hospital said in a statement.
According to the hospital, McCain and his family are reviewing further treatment options, which may include a combination of chemotherapy and radiation.
His Senate office said he is in "good spirits" and recovering at home in Arizona with his family.
"Further consultations with Sen. McCain's Mayo Clinic care team will indicate when he will return to the United States Senate," the statement said.
When the news came of his diagnosis, Democrats and Republicans offered well wishes to him and his family.
Asked about McCain, one of his closest friends in the Senate, South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, said, "He has called me three times this morning. 'No more woe is me, Lindsey.' He is yelling at me to buck up. So I'm going to buck up."
Graham said that he believed doctors removed almost all of the tumor.
"The disease — I think they got it. He's going go through radiation and chemo. I'm not a doctor. It may come back again, and he'll fight it again. But right now, he's in good spirits. It was a really tough operation," Graham said.
"But John is ready to come back," he continued. "And going forward, he's excited, quite frankly, about getting a chance to finish things that have been stuck."
Graham added that without McCain on Capitol Hill, "It's quieter. It's hugely different because John is a fighter and he jumps into every cause, no matter how hard it might be. The energy he provides — he's coming back."
TCIG successfully defends $200m claim brought by TWI
TCIG has successfully defended itself against a series of massive claims totaling nearly $200m brought by Trade Wind Industries Limited (TWI). The claims, first brought in the TCI Courts in 2012, and then in an international arbitration, were almost wholly dismissed, TWI winning just $255,010 in damages together with some interest and limited costs.
TWI brought claims for (a) breach of its leases by permitting of the building of the Leeward Marina in 2007/8; (b) massive damage to its stock of conch and its farm caused by dredging in 2008/9; (c) massive damages for breach of a development agreement in 2012; (d) defamation by the Governor in 2012; and (e) expropriation of its assets. Altogether the damages claimed across all five claims totaled nearly $200m.
The Arbitrators' Awards were previously confidential, but a recent agreement between the parties means publication is now permitted. The First Award, dated 13 October 2016 is 280 pages long and followed many weeks of hearings earlier that year; a short summary of it has more recently been prepared by the Tribunal. The First Award decided that:-
(a) permitting of the building of the Leeward Marina in 2006/7 including associated dredging was a breach of TWI's then existing leases but TWI were entitled to only $250,000 damages for that breach;
(b) TWI failed to prove that dredging caused any damage to its conch or farm. TWI's business was loss making so it was entitled to no damages in respect of that claim;
(c) although a development order issued by the interim administration in 2012 did not strictly comply with the terms of the development agreement and TWI were therefore entitled to a revised development order, TWI failed to prove it suffered any loss as a result, so it was awarded nominal damages of only $10;
(d) although most of the defamation claims were dismissed, in one respect what was said by former Governor Todd was defamatory; however TWI were entitled to damages of only $5,000 taking into account the "sometimes dishonest and provocative way in which TWI's senior personnel had dealt with TCIG and the Governor."
(e) TWI did not have any assets expropriated and its claim in that respect was dismissed entirely.
Total damages awarded to TWI were $255,010. These were paid by TCIG to TWI in late 2016 shortly after the First Award was provided to the parties. The arbitration began in 2013 after TWI's claim in the TCI Supreme Court was stayed on TCIG's application in favour of the arbitration process. Three Arbitrators - all senior lawyers in London - were selected as arbitrators to hear the case. . As well as the First Award, the Arbitrators also produced a Second Award dated 10 April 2017, which is also now being published. That Award deals with various supplementary matters including:-
a. finalising the terms of a development order for TWI. TCIG has now granted that Development Order;
b. whether TWI should be entitled to 31 declarations dealing with the Tribunal's First Award. The Tribunal decided TWI was entitled only to one, namely that TWI is entitled to farm fin fish;
c. legal costs of the arbitration process. The Tribunal decided that the parties should largely bear their own costs, save that TWI would be entitled to receive 20% of its legal costs from TCIG. The Tribunal came to this conclusion because it said that although TWI had won something, "its financial recovery was extremely small compared to what it claimed, the rights it has vindicated may or may not be of any substantial value, and a large part of the costs were incurred on issues that TWI lost";
d. TWI was entitled to interest on its damages of $135,986.30. TCIG has paid that interest to TWI;
e. The Tribunal left open some final matters including some remaining legal costs. It is shortly expected to issue a third and final award dealing with all remaining outstanding matters, bringing the litigation to an end.
The Attorney General commented: "TCIG is delighted to have been able to see off this massive damages claim and long-running litigation. The claim - for nearly $200m - would have been potentially catastrophic for the Government if TWI had been awarded anything like the sum they were claiming, and the fact that TWI has brought this enormous piece of litigation lasting years, alleging their business has been destroyed by the Government, and seeking these huge damages, but in the end has been awarded only $255,010 in damages, some interest and some limited costs is a very good result for the Government."
ENDS
Notes to editors: the full 270 page First Award, together with the five page summary, and the 37 page Second Award, are being made available on the Government's website at www.gov.tc/publication-of-awards/.
TCI House of Assembly Speaker and Members Attend 42nd Regional Conference
His Honour the Speaker and Members of the House of Assembly attended the 42nd Regional Conference of the Caribbean, the Americas and the Atlantic Region of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held in Basseterre, St. Christopher from the 16th to the 24th June, 2017.
The official opening was on Monday, June 19th, 2017 where a number of Speakers and other Parliamentarians from the region were in attendance. The Governor General H.E. Sir S.W. Tapley Seaton and Deputy Prime Minister of St. Kitts, the Premier and Deputy Premier of St. Nevis was also in attendance.
The Regional Conference resumes as its Annual General Meeting convenes every year with the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians who assembled from June 16th, 2017 for their 11th Annual Meeting and conference, their theme: “Next Steps in Strategizing for Women’s Leadership in the Caribbean Political Space”. This speaks to the preparation, training and involvement in front line Politics for women and how the Region and Commonwealth can assist in giving women the leverage to be able to access the Political Barriers that normally hinder women from ascending to top positions within Party Politics and plateauing to senior positions or given the opportunity to canvas to run for political office, hence gender being diminished.
The Conference theme sessions narrative was geared towards addressing the importance of engendering positive perceptions of Parliaments and Parliamentarians. The negative and positive effects the Media forged in enhancing Parliamentary democracy.
The underlying factors that presently exist and the perception in the wider Caribbean, is that Parliaments are exclusive, isolated and discreet when it comes to the involvement and dissemination of information to the Public, while the Parliamentarians are corrupt, selfish and don’t live up to their word or promises.
Public Education by Parliaments and Parliamentarians have to do a better job by connecting with their constituents, and the public wanting to hear the local issues being addressed because their perception is that Parliaments come off as a rubber-stamp rather than addressing the authentic needs of the people, and the people not understanding how Parliaments processes work.
The role of the media can be an asset to be involved in the process by providing the conduit for public education. However, Social Media and other media outlets can also be seen as references of doom and gloom because information coming to the public from Parliaments and Parliamentarians are of an obscured and ill-reporting nature, has caused our Politicians and Parliaments to be seen in a most negative light.
The Turks and Caicos Islands has been viewed in a positive light because of the many organizational systems such as, the Integrity Commission, Complaints Commission, Auditor General’s Office and their play to insure good governance, not discounting other aspects of our Parliamentary democratic systems; The Appropriation Committee, Public Accounts Committee and many other standing committees that create the checks and balances for other Statutory bodies, breathes a breath of fresh air for the Turks and Caicos Islands and our approach to allowing these procedures and practices to be in the viewing and hearing of the public by various Media Houses for scrutiny and transparency.
What was most significant and inviting, the highlight of Turks and Caicos Islands was seen and used as a model for other democracies in the region to emulate, regarding the vast involvement and inclusion of women parliamentarians and the recent election of the first woman Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands regarding the mature democratic approach to include women in leadership roles and capacities.
The Turks and Caicos Islands was well represented as His Honour the Speaker was one of the presenters at the same regional conference on the topic, “Enhancing Caribbean Parliamentary Democracy via public and media participation”. Other presenters on the same topic were, Hon. Dr. Dhanayshar Mahabir of Trinidad and Tobago and Hon. Randy Horton (Speaker) of Bermuda.
Turks and Caicos Islands was also nominated as a member of the Regional Executive Committee which joins in the executive decision making for the region on Parliamentary Matters.
The Delegation attending the 42nd Regional Conference:
- Hon. Dwayne S. Taylor, MHA – Speaker
- Hon. Derek Taylor, OBE, JP, MHA
- Hon. Porsha Stubbs-Smith, MHA
- Mrs. Tracey I. Parker – Clerk to the House of Assembly