Possible jail and fines for Trinidad public service protestors
On the eve of plans by trade unions to demonstrate under the theme "No Work Day" on Tuesday for an increase salaries and better working conditions, top government officials warned that the protestors could be jailed and fined.
The Trinidad Express newspaper reported that Finance Minister Winston Dookeran, flanked by Public Administration Minister Rudrawatee Nan Ramgoolam and Housing Minister Roodal Moonilall, warned public servants that they were prohibited under the Industrial Relations Act 89 (1) from taking industrial action.
He pointed out that the Act imposed penalties on public servants and trade unionists who contravened its provisions. The penalty could be imprisonment for 18 months and a $10,000 fine.
Dookeran made it quite clear that he was not threatening public servants, "but was simply outlining the state of affairs" in the light of the PSA advertisements appearing in the press that called for no work on Tuesday, which was tantamount to strike action.
Belize gets $6 million grant from Japan to improve health services
The Belize Ministry of Health has been awarded $6 million in grants from the Japanese Social Development Fund (JSDF) through the World Bank.
In making the announcement on Tuesday, Health Minister Pablo Marin said the money will be used to support the provision of greater access to quality health services for Belize's children and to encourage healthy lifestyle practices and behaviours.
The project will address malnutrition in children five and under; it will encourage healthy lifestyle practices in children five and above and it will strengthen community-based health services through mobile clinics and community health workers. It will also improve on basic structural upgrading to health posts and improvements to other related facilities.
Research, monitoring and evaluation will provide a continuing evidence basis for the implementation of the project.
The money will be spent in the Toledo district in the southern end of Belize by empowering the local communities and schools; by helping to improve the overall quality of health services and by promoting healthy lifestyle choices.
Clinton Foundation completes work in Bahamas
The last Clinton Foundation worker hops on a plane on Wednesday, which will herald the end of the organization’s HIV/AIDS work on the ground in The Bahamas.
“They have effectively pulled out,” said National AIDS Programme Director Dr Perry Gomez. “Their last employee leaves Wednesday.”
According to Gomez, a senior foundation member revealed to government late last year that the Foundation, headed by former US President Bill Clinton, has completed its work in The Bahamas.
He added that the foundation staff’s primary work was to source medication and medical equipment for the government’s free HIV/AIDS clinic. He intimated that The Bahamas is now in a position to carry on those contracts for antiretroviral drugs and equipment that had been negotiated through the foundation during its tenure.
“A few months ago one of the senior people of the foundation met with the minister to say their work in The Bahamas is finished,” said Gomez.
“In terms of what they wanted to do for The Bahamas, their role in The Bahamas was mostly in negotiating for us -- they negotiated the best prices for us for drugs and equipment for the lab, so that government money would go further.
“They will still, if we need assistance, help from a distance; they don’t have to be here for that, because basically our contracts are set,” he said.
Since the The Bahamas secured markedly reduced prices for drugs, treatment became universal for those who needed it.
Since the very first cases, the death rate from HIV has been reduced by 70 percent, Gomez said recently.
The Bahamas went from 300 deaths from AIDS every year to around 70 for the last two years.
Minister of Health Dr Hubert Minnis told The Nassau Guardian on Monday that he expected to meet with Gomez on Tuesday over the future of The Bahamas’ HIV/AIDS program following the departure of the Clinton Foundation’s workers.
Some of the foundation’s most recent work was with the Haitian community, Gomez also revealed.
“For the last nine months they were working with the Haitian community and did a wonderful job,” he said. “Their work was targeted. They were helping us with forecasting of drugs, making sure orders are here and others were monitoring the pharmacy.”
According to Gomez, much of the foundation’s former Bahamas-based staff will now focus their attention on Africa.
The Clinton Foundation, according to its website, was established in 2002 and developed the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), under which The Bahamas was a beneficiary, to “turn the tide” of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in developing countries.
The Caribbean still has the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS outside Sub-Saharan Africa.
Republished with permission of the Nassau Guardian http://www.thenassauguardian.com/
Seattle residents hurt in Puerto Rico torch attack
A Seattle man and his fiancee were in critical condition in a Puerto Rican hospital Monday after the man's uncle threw gasoline or kerosene on a family gathering and lit the party afire on New Year's Day.
Just weeks after they became engaged, Kate Donahue, 25, had traveled to Puerto Rico with Jesus Sanchez Vazquez, who is in his late 20s, to get to know his family in Florida, Puerto Rico.
They have burns on 80 percent of their bodies, Dr. Ernesto Torres told the Puerto Rican publication El Nuevo Dia.
Sanchez Vazquez's uncle, Justino Sanchez Diaz, 45, threw an accelerant onto members of his family, then used a tank containing 20 pounds of propane gas as a torch to set them afire, El Nuevo Dia said. Two people died and several others were injured.
In the hospital, Donahue, a licensed practical nurse for Group Health, and Sanchez Vazquez, a Boeing engineer, kept asking about each other, according to Donahue's aunt, Dianna Lee.
"I think it's the love that they have for each other that's going to get them through this," Lee said.
The two people fatally injured were Sanchez Vazquez's sister, Pamela Sanchez Diaz, 17, and Samuel Molina Sanchez, a cousin of the attacker. Justino's mother, Josefina Diaz, 86, is in critical condition, according to El Nuevo Dia.
The family had gathered to celebrate Molina Sanchez's 32nd birthday, according to Primerahora.com, another Puerto Rican news source.
"I see my husband crawling, all burned, and I think to scream, 'Oh my God, what a nightmare is this, run, run, run,' " Molina Sanchez's wife, Glorimar de Jesus, told Primerahora.com.
Justino Sanchez Diaz was arrested Sunday and held on $1.5 million bail in the death of Molina Sanchez. A second murder charge was filed Monday, Primerahora.com reported. There are also rumors that the suspect has a history of mental illness.
"There is no reason. He got there and did what he did. Among the family, this is what we think," de Jesus told Primerahora.com.
Donahue's maternal grandmother, Patricia Hall, said she was "absolutely horrified" when she heard about the attack.
What had happened wasn't immediately clear. All Donahue's family knew was that there had been an accident and she was burned. Initially they thought there might have been a car accident.
"It was just many hours of blur and phone calls and computers and everyone trying to piece this information with this information and trying to get my daughter 1/8Michelle Donahue3/8 to Puerto Rico," Hall said.
Lee was able to contact one of Jesus Sanchez Vazquez's aunts via Facebook; the aunt related what happened as best she could in a five-minute phone call with broken English.
"Jesus has a lovely community in Puerto Rico that's being very supportive of 1/8my family3/8 ... and keeping people up to date as much as possible," Lee said.
Donahue is not in stable enough condition to be moved from Puerto Rico, according to Patrice Moore, another of Donahue's aunts. Her mother, father, brother and friends have flown there to be at her side, Hall said.
"My daughter has called me a couple of times," Hall said of Donahue's mother. "Of course she was very emotional, but she can let go with me while she's trying to be strong there. She's very, very upset and crying. I think she gets to go in to see her twice a day for 10 minutes. It's just so surreal."
Moore said Donahue and her fiance knew from the moment they met that they were soul mates.
Jesus had wanted to propose at Christmas, Moore said, but couldn't stand to wait. He planned a surprise party for Donahue at their favorite restaurant, and there told her he had one more surprise. He got down on one knee and said he couldn't imagine spending his life with anyone else.
"They're such a lovely couple," Lee said. "And they have so much ahead of them, you just can't fathom what the next steps are going to be."
Source:Seattle Times
Wade gets 34, Heat pull away to beat Bucks 101-89
Throughout their sizzling turnaround of the past few weeks, the Miami Heat have made the game look absolutely easy at times.
This one was different.
And that thrilled Heat coach Erik Spoelstra.
Dwyane Wade scored 34 points, LeBron James added 25 points and nine assists, and the Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 101-89 on Tuesday night for their 19th win in 20 games. An 18-6 run over an 8-minute span got the late-game push going, and a 13-0 late burst sealed it for Miami.
"The players probably enjoyed some other games more," Spoelstra said. "But I think this was an important game. That's a very physical team. They're a very good defensive team. A lot of times when you play against them, it's a grind-out game, and we had to play a different kind of game tonight, have some mental toughness and resiliency when things weren't necessarily going our way."
Chris Bosh finished with 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Heat, who trailed most of the third quarter before getting rolling. It was Miami's final home game for two weeks; the Heat will put their 11-game road winning streak on the line when they visit Milwaukee on Friday.
John Salmons scored 18 points for Milwaukee, which got 16 from Andrew Bogut and 14 from former Heat guard Keyon Dooling. The Bucks were outrebounded 47-34.
"When we were trying to keep contact with them in the second half it got away from us," Bucks coach Scott Skiles said. "We had a couple of missed layups, a couple of open jumpers. They took control of the game and we weren't able to get back into it."
There were some plays the Bucks will regret - fouling Wade twice on 3-point tries in the fourth, most notably - but the game seemed to change on a strange series late in the third.
Skiles got his second technical while trying to get a referee's attention to argue what he thought was a shot-clock violation on Miami and appeared to accidentally collide with Miami's Carlos Arroyo. Because it was not considered unsportsmanlike, Skiles was not ejected. But the damage was done: James Jones made a 3-pointer 10 seconds after the call, the first salvo in Miami's closing burst.
"A rule is a rule," Bogut said. "But there was a lot of 50-50 plays like that that didn't go our way. ... It was a huge call, a huge momentum swing in the game."
Skiles said he thought referees made the correct call.
Something about playing good teams on the road has brought out the best in the Bucks so far this season, a trend that continued at Miami.
Milwaukee came into the game only 5-11 away from home, the 19th-best road mark in the 30-team NBA. But some of the wins - over the Los Angeles Lakers , Dallas and Atlanta, for example - and even an overtime loss in Boston in early November have suggested the Bucks are capable of more.
It's a lesson the Heat learned in this one.
Up by 11 after Bosh made a jumper with 7:36 left in the first half and looking comfortable, the Heat quickly went cold, and Milwaukee took advantage. Miami shot 2 for 9 the rest of the quarter, with five turnovers, and the Bucks outscored Miami 23-8 - 14 of those points coming from the foul line - to close the period with a 51-47 lead.
Miami's drought without a field goal lasted nearly 6 minutes before James made layups on consecutive fast-break possessions to tie it at 54 early in the third. Just about everything the Heat tried offensively was at the rim in the third: Of their eight field goals in the quarter, seven were inside of 15 feet, five were either layups or dunks.
Then Jones hit Miami's first 3-pointer of the game following the Skiles technical, and Mario Chalmers made two key 3s in the final minutes to help the Heat seal the outcome.
"We're going to have to win games in a lot of different ways," Bosh said. "Good teams find a way to win."
WICB investing to exploit global commercial opportunities, says Hunte
President of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Dr Julian Hunte, has said that the WICB is ensuring that it aligns the best interest of cricket with how the sport is evolving as a global product in order to exploit financial and sponsorship opportunities.
“Twenty20 cricket has presented tremendous challenges but also fantastic opportunities for governing bodies. Some will benefit more and sooner from these opportunities than others. In the Caribbean scenario, principally it is the players and the fans who are the ones benefitting most,” Hunte said last week during an interview for the forthcoming Caribbean Twenty20 Tournament Guide.
Noting the WICB’s strategic decision to invest in Caribbean Twenty20, Hunte said that the focus is on providing a stage for players to flourish, fans to enjoy cricket and building commercial value.
“The board will not position itself and employ strategies which deny the fans the enjoyment from the sport and the players the financial gains from exploiting their skills,” he asserted.
“Fans want to see this version because they enjoy it as it is packaged in a manner which is convenient to their evolving needs. The players want to play it because it tests their skills in a different dimension and of course it brings them a level of financial security which has not been historically available,” Hunte noted.
“As a governing board our product is cricket and it is driven by cricketers and the onus is on us to invest in schemes and mechanisms to ensure that not only our products are strong but players are financially secure,” he added.
Cognizant of the need to ensure that players are able to secure their livelihoods during their relatively short playing careers, Hunte said the board of directors of the WICB is committed to ensuring that every effort is made to allow them to maximise their earning capacity.
“The last thing, as a board, we want is for players to complete their playing careers and have to scrape around for resources to get by daily living. This has happened in the past and we will do what we can, as best we can to eradicate this regrettable situation,” Hunte related in the extensive interview.
“It is why the investment in the Caribbean Twenty20 is important and necessary. We envision that the tournament will be able to turn in returns in the future but at this stage, purely as an investment in a platform for our players to showcase their wares it is a critical investment for the WICB,” he explained.
The Caribbean Twenty20 kicks off on Monday January 10 in Antigua.
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal through in Qatar Open
World number two Roger Federer produced a stunning trick shot as he advanced to round two of the Qatar Open with a 7-6 (7-3) 6-3 win over Thomas Schoorel.
Federer had to save three set points when trailing the 21-year-old Dutch qualifier 5-4 in the opening set.
Having won the set and with a 5-2 lead in the second, Federer was facing the baseline when he flicked a shot through his legs for a winner into the corner.
World number one and top seed Rafael Nadal coasted past Karol Beck 6-3 6-0.
Nadal, seeking his first win in Doha, led 3-0 in the first set then broke Beck all three times in the next but insisted: "It was not an easy match. But I started well and kept playing well. I think I gave a good performance."
The 24-year-old Spaniard, who won three Grand Slams in 2010, added: "I try to do better every day and be consistent."
Meanwhile Federer, winner of this tournament in 2005 and 2006, reeled off five points in a row to level the score at 5-5 and then took advantage of three long returns by Schoorel to take the set on a tie-break.
The 29-year-old, winner of 16 Grand Slam titles, broke serve for the first time in the match in the fourth game of the second set before thrilling the crowd with his trademark trick shot and swiftly completing victory.
Federer has previously unveiled the shot between the legs, also known as a "Tweener", at the last two US Opens, at last year's Shanghai Masters and at the 2007 Dubai Open.
"It's one of the best shots again of my career, one I'm going to look back and smile, of course," he said of the latest example.
"In the first set, he played really well. This player has quality. I got confidence when I saved those set points. Then I picked up my game."
Next up for the Swiss maestro is compatriot Marco Chiudinelli, who beat Reda El Amrani 3-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-3.
In other matches, fifth seed Ernests Gulbis of Latvia beat Romanian Victor Hanescu 6-3 7-6 (7-6) and eighth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2 6-4.
Pakistan trio head for 'spot-fixing' tribunal in Doha
Pakistan bowler Mohammad Amir says he is confident of proving his innocence at the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption tribunal from Thursday.
An independent panel in Doha will judge if Amir, Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, committed spot-fixing offences in the fourth Test against England in August.
They were suspended in September amid charges of bowling deliberate no-balls.
"I'm quietly confident I can come out of it with my head high," said 18-year-old Amir. "I have done nothing wrong."
"I've played so many Tests but this is going to be my toughest and hardest," added Amir, who has taken 51 wickets in 14 Test matches.
"Finally the time has arrived for me to prove my innocence. My lawyer has worked very hard on preparing this case."
The International Cricket Council - whose chief executive officer Haroon Lorgat said he will be "disappointed" if the players are found not guilty - believes it has prepared a strong case which requires proper scrutiny.
If found guilty of breaking the ICC's Code of Conduct, the trio could face a life ban.
They were provisionally suspended and charged by the ICC, and were also questioned by Scotland Yard detectives in London over the allegations when the case erupted in September last year.
Michael Beloff QC, who chaired the Code of Conduct Commission that rejected appeals from Butt and Amir in October, will chair the hearing along with fellow code of conduct commissioners Justice Albie Sachs of South
Butt criticised the ICC for victimising Pakistan cricketers when his appeal was rejected, while Asif - who did not appeal - has made no statement since the suspension.
Pakistan's Twenty20 and one-day captain Shahid Afridi will join coach Waqar Younis as witnesses at the request of the ICC during the tribunal.
Amir left from Pakistan for Qatar on Tuesday while Test captain Butt and Asif left on different flights.
Speaking to the BBC in December, Lorgat said that the trio will be entitled to appeal any ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Knicks cool off Spurs with victory
Wilson Chandler scored a season-high 31 points, and the New York Knicks overwhelmed the San Antonio Spurs with a sensational offensive performance, cooling off the NBA leaders with a 128-115 victory Tuesday night.
Amare Stoudemire and Raymond Felton added 28 apiece for the Knicks, who snapped the Spurs' four-game winning streak and dropped them to 29-5. New York rang up the highest point total San Antonio has allowed this season, shooting 55 percent and leading most of the way in its second straight victory.
Tony Parker had 26 points for the Spurs, who will try to regroup when they head to Boston on Wednesday for a matchup of conference leaders. DeJuan Blair added 17, Manu Ginobili scored 15 and Tim Duncan finished with 14 on just 5-of-14 shooting.
Rookie Landry Fields had 13 points for the Knicks in a big victory before they head west for a tough four-game trip that starts Friday in Phoenix and includes games against the Lakers, Portland and Utah.
NBA teams have started at least 30-4 nine times, but the Spurs gave up hope of that with a little more than 3 minutes left, when coach Gregg Popovich pulled Duncan, Ginobili and Parker after one last Knicks flurry made it a double-digit lead again.
Unlike its four championship teams, San Antonio has built this strong start more with offense than defense. The Spurs have played it well enough to put them on pace for one of the best records in NBA history, but Popovich doesn't expect it to last.
"We're not going to keep up this pace, that's for sure. It's not going to happen," he said before the game.
Not if the Spurs defend the way they did Tuesday too often.
Even without anyone who could guard Chandler, they were still within five midway through the fourth quarter before Toney Douglas and Felton made 3-pointers, and consecutive baskets by Felton and Stoudemire pushed it to 122-111 with 3:27 remaining.
The Knicks easily surpassed their league-leading average of 107.2 points per game even without starting forward Danilo Gallinari, who is expected to miss two to three weeks with a sprained left knee.
San Antonio is fourth in the league with its 105.6 points per game and nobody got any stops early. The teams combined to hit 11 of their first 12 shots and barely cooled off as the Knicks took a 36-35 lead after one quarter. Duncan (1 of 5) was just about the only player who couldn't capitalize on the lack of defense.
New York pushed the lead to nine midway through the second after consecutive jumpers by Stoudemire and was ahead 72-69 at halftime, the most points San Antonio has surrendered in a half this season.
Chandler scored 11 in the third quarter, when the Knicks opened a double-digit lead before settling for a 101-95 advantage.
US car sales confirm auto industry recovery
US carmakers have reported strong sales for December, confirming the auto industry's steady recovery during 2010.
Chrysler said sales for the month rose by 16% against a year earlier, while General Motors posted sales growth of 7.5%. Ford said sales rose by 7%.
Japan's Nissan fared even better, reporting US sales growth of 28%.
Most major carmakers reporting sales figures on Tuesday also posted strong rises in sales for the full year 2010 compared with the previous year.
Ford reported a jump of 19%, Chrysler an increase of 16%, while GM posted a rise of 6%.
The figures confirm a remarkable turnaround for the so-called Detroit three carmakers, two of which - Chrysler and GM - went into bankruptcy protection in 2009.
Other carmakers were equally upbeat.
"I think people are a lot more confident in making big purchases now. That's the story of the fourth quarter," said Ali Castignetti, head of Nissan sales in the US.
"I think we're going to see slow, steady growth."
Bail-out
Despite strong gains from Ford and Chrysler, GM retained its position as the US's top-selling carmaker, with sales of 2.2 million cars in 2010.
"Our sales this year reflect the impact of GM's new business model," said GM's vice-president of US sales Don Johnson.
"The consistency of results that we achieved demonstrates the focus on our brands, dealers and customers, and how we compete aggressively for every sale, every day."
In the summer of 2009, the company needed $50bn in government assistance as it went through bankruptcy protection. Following the bail-out, the government owned 61% of the company.
Comprehensive restructuring, including selling off a number of brands, has helped the carmaker to return to profitability.
It posted a net profit of $2bn (£1.2bn) in the three months to the end of September, its third consecutive quarter of profitability.
In November, GM raised $20.1bn through a public share offering - the largest share sale in the US to date.
This will allow the government to reduce its stake to as low as 33%.
Improving fortunes
Chrysler also went into bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2009 after being bailed out the by the government following a sales slump during the downturn, but it has struggled to return to profitability since.
In the third quarter of last year, the carmaker lost $84m, following a $172m loss in the previous three months. It has, however, forecast a profit for the full year 2010 of $700m.
Ford, which did not enter bankruptcy protection or take financial assistance from the government, made a profit of $1.7bn between July and September, its sixth consecutive quarterly profit.