Day 2 of CDB Annual Meeting Activities
Day 2 of in-country activities as part of the Caribbean Development Bank’s 52ndAnnual Meeting of the Board of Governors continues today with several events.
The day’s events started this morning with an interview of African Development Bank (ADB) President, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, who sat down with regional journalist, Mr. Julian Rogers to talk about the development challenges facing the Caribbean region and some possible solutions using examples from Africa.
Dr. Adesina expressed his passion for seeing nations lift themselves out of poverty, mentioning how greater collaboration can significantly aid in this effort. Being a former Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, he explained the importance of Caribbean countries increasing their agricultural development and seeing the industry as a transformative tool in economic development. He said that there’s no dignity in countries begging for food and that the Caribbean needs to be able to feed itself.
Dr. Adesina added that one key challenge the Caribbean region faces is the economic loss due to shocks from climate shocks, stating that the region loses around USD$3 billion dollars a year because of this. The President noted that the region needs to build economic resilience and one way the African Development Bank is helping Africa deal with a similar challenge is through the development of the African Financial Mechanism to avoid the possible resulting continual debt cycle by creating a financial buffer.
The interview is a precursor to this evening’s 22nd William G. Demas Lecture, where Dr. Adesina is the featured speaker. The topic for the annual lecture is, ‘Development in a Context of Global Challenges: Experiences and Lessons from the African Development Bank’. The lecture will be streamed lived at 7:30pm from Beaches Turks & Caicos via all CDB digital platforms and via Radio Turks & Caicos.
Also, taking place today as part of the CBD activities is a webinar on the titled ‘Budgeting for Sustainable Development and will also be streamed live from Beaches Turks & Caicos Resort at 2:30pm. The webinar will feature such panelists as Trinidad & Tobago Minister of Planning and Development, HonourablePennelope Beckles-Robinson; Republic Financial Holdings Limited General Manager, Richard S. Sammy; Chief Executive Officer of Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica, Francine Baron; and Inter-Regional Advisor for The Partnership in Statistics for Development, Cathy Krűger.
Sri Lanka gives government workers extra day off a week
Sri Lanka is giving government officials an extra day off a week to encourage them to grow food, amid fears of a food shortage.
The country has around one million public sector employees.
It comes as the island nation, home to around 22 million, faces its worst economic crisis in more than 70 years.
Sri Lanka is struggling to pay for critical imports such as food, fuel and medicine as it faces a severe shortage of foreign currencies.
Late on Monday, the government approved a proposal for public sector workers to be given leave every Friday for the next three months.
It said the decision was partly to help workers who are facing difficulties getting to work due to fuel shortages as well as to encourage them to grow fruit and vegetables to help feed themselves and their families.
"It seems appropriate to grant government officials leave for one working day of the week and provide them with the necessary facilities to engage in agricultural activities in their backyards or elsewhere as a solution to the food shortage that is expected to occur in the future," the government said in a statement on its online news portal.
Also on Monday, the United States said that it was ready to help Sri Lanka.
After a phone call with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the US "stands ready to work with Sri Lanka".
Earlier this month, Mr Wickremesinghe said the country needed at least $5bn (£4.15bn) this year to pay for essential imports.
The government is in talks over an economic bailout package, with an IMF delegation expected to arrive in the capital Colombo next Monday.
The fall in the value of the Sri Lankan rupee, rising global commodity prices and a ban chemical fertilisers - which has now been lifted - helped to push annual food price rises to more than 57% in April.
At the end of last month, the country's Agriculture Minister Mahinda Amaraweera called on farmers to grow more rice, saying "it is clear the food situation is becoming worse".
"We request all farmers to step into their fields in the next five to ten days and cultivate paddy [rice]," he added.
At the same time the government raised taxes to help shore up its finances.
Source-BBC
Haiti aims to close Nations League window & T&T take victory over St. Vincent
A June double window of matches in the CONCACAF Nations League B closes on Tuesday night with two matches that will go a long way toward deciding which teams are playing in League A in the next tournament, who goes to the 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup and who will be relegated.
One of those matches scheduled in Group B sees Haiti sit atop the table with seven points.
They will meet Guyana at the Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez here just days after an eventful 6-2 win for Haiti that saw the teams go into the halftime break with the score 4-2. The result extended Haiti’s undefeated all-time record against Guyana.
While fans may be hoping for the same fireworks, Haiti manager Jean-Jacques Pierre and his Guyana counterpart Jamaal Shabazz would be content with any scoreline that ends with three points and the group lead ahead of the next match date.
Steeven Saba and Carnejy Antoine have scored in each of the last two games after opening the competition with a scoreless draw with Bermuda.
Tuesday also brings the final group match in the June window in Group D. French Guiana puts its undefeated mark on the line against Belize at the Stade Municipal Edmard Lama.
Belize had a late advantage in the team’s meeting earlier in the window, but French Guiana FW Joel Sarrucco continued his hot streak, scoring in a third straight CNL match.
His 89th-minute tally secured a point for Les Yana Dokos as they look to take a group lead into March.
Meanwhile, Trinidad and Tobago are now in a good position to contest the top of their group after a 4-1 victory over St. Vincent and the Grenadines in Group C of League B of the CONCACAF Nations League (CNL) on Monday night.
The loss for St. Vincent, meantime, leaves them at the bottom of the group on just one point but still with hopes of avoiding relegation.
Trinidad and Tobago collected their third consecutive victory at the Hasely Crawford Stadium.
The home side took the opening goal within the encounter’s first 10 minutes. Judah Garcia capitalized on a contested ball falling his way and drove into the box to slot it past goalkeeper Lemus Christopher in the ninth minute.
Noah Powder doubled the lead for the Soca Warriors just two minutes later. A service into the box by Duane Muckette found its way to Powder, with Christopher just missing the interception.
Cornelius Stewart cut the deficit to 2-1 for the visitors in the 26th minute. The goal came from a combination in which Azinho Solomon drove forward to set up the overlapping Jazzi Barnum-Bobb, the right back then curved it towards the penalty area and Stewart converted with a slick right-footed hit.
Powder secured a brace to restore a two-goal lead for the Soca Warriors in the 41st minute when Levi Garcia took on defenders in the box, giving himself a bit of space and the chance to set up the pass for Powder to arrive and convert.
The visitors would not go quietly into the night and began to generate some of the better opportunities of the second half. Stewart was continually active to try and break through the defense and get his second of the night.
The home side finally broke through though with their fourth goal of the night in stoppage time. John Paul Rochford struck toward goal in the 90+1 minute to secure the three points.
Trinidad and Tobago are now on nine points in the group, one behind leaders Nicaragua who demolished The Bahamas 4-0 at the National Football Stadium in Managua on Monday as well.
Source-CMC
Top Gun: Maverick streaks past Doctor Strange as the year's highest-grossing movie
Top gun: Maverick flew past $400 million at the domestic box office, making it the highest-grossing movie of the year in the U.S. so far.
The sequel to 1986's Top Gun, which features Tom Cruise reprising his roll as Captain Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, has earned $401.8 million, overtaking Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' $398 million tally. It’s only the second pandemic-era movie to cross the $400 million mark in North America, Spider-Man: No Way Home being the first.
Overseas, Top Gun: Maverick has beat expectations, delivering $362 million, for a worldwide total of $783.8 million.
Maverick, which now stands as Cruise’s biggest film domestically, has a shot at nearing $500 million domestically and $1 billion globally.
Source-ABC
Heat wave continues in 27 states across the country
A third of the U.S. population will experience heat advisories on Wednesday as a week of record-breaking temperatures continues, according to the National Weather Service. A "heat dome" is expected to bring triple-digit temperatures to portions of the Midwest, adding to the early onset temperatures already baking the Southwest. There are red flag warnings across Colorado, New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma for increased fire danger.
Extreme heat causes more deaths in American than any other weather-related disaster, with the Environmental Protection Agency estimating that more than 1,300 deaths per year in the U.S. are due to extreme heat. Warning signs of a heat episode include nausea, excessive sweating and a rapid pulse.
Source-ABC
President Biden blames Republicans for blocking his plan to fight inflation
President Joe Biden delivered fired-up remarks on the economy before a friendly, cheering audience of union workers in Philadelphia Tuesday -- acknowledging inflation, and high food and gas prices while noting his plans to try to ease the economic pressure American families are facing. High inflation is a major political liability for Biden, who blamed Republicans for blocking a lot of his ideas to lower prices for Americans.
During his speech, he heavily praised organized labor -- and delivered a midterm message. "Jobs are back, but prices are still too high," the president remarked. "COVID is down, but gas prices are up. Our work isn't done."
Noting the upcoming midterm elections, Biden said, "America still has a choice to make. A choice between a government by the few for the few or a government for all of us." He argued Republicans "refuse to consider a minimum corporate tax of 15 percent" and "think that the problem in America today is the working families aren't paying enough."
He touted his accomplishments, including the infrastructure bill, the millions of jobs created during his time in office, and how American families are carrying less debt and have more savings.
Source-ABC
Government seeking to ease burden of citizens due to higher fuel prices
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines government says it has taken emergency steps to prevent the fuel surcharge on electricity bills from surpassing the record high of EC$0.67 cents (One EC dollar=US$0.37 cents) per unit in 2008.
Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said he had given instructions “so that we can keep the bill which is coming out (Tuesday) in some reasonable frame”.
The fuel surcharge this month has jumped from EC$0.58 cents per kilowatt hour to EC$0.72 cents per unit, an increase of EC$0.14 cents per unit.
“The bill is going to go up,” Gonsalves said, as he told a radio audience of an emergency meeting with the Director General of Finance and Planning, as well as Chair of the Board of VINLEC, Rene Baptiste, and acting chief executive of VINLEC, Vaughn Lewis.
“I’m trying to shield the people as much as possible from the burden because this is a poor people’s government. This is a working people’s government,” Gonsalves said.
“The highest that it has ever been is in 2008 when it was 67 cents, approximately, per unit per kilowatt hour, the fuel surcharge,” he said, noting that back then, unrefined diesel sold for US$147.50 a barrel.
“Now this would have taken it higher,” he said, adding that he called the VINLEC chief executive officer, Thornley Myers, who is in Canada, and Minister of Finance Camillo Gonsalves, who is attending the annual Caribbean Development Bank meeting in Turks and Caicos.
He said a similar call was made to the Director General of Finance and Planning “as we had to do something.
“Basically, what we are going to do, we are going to split the 14 cents. Let the consumer pay seven and we pay seven,” he said, adding that this will benefit VINLEC’s 47,000 consumers, including close to 42,000 domestic consumers.
“We will keep it below what the highest point has ever been. But still it will increase. VINLEC will absorb about EC$500,000 of that. And the government will put a number close to EC$300, 000,” Gonsalves said, adding “if this has to be repeated next month, we’ll have to probably reduce the way that formula is between the government and VINLEC.
“It’s a difficult period. And, as always, I have to come to the people and be very honest. If we were to absorb all of it, it will cost us about EC$1.6 million and when you take into account that we are already doing over a million dollars a month in providing the subsidy on the gasoline [and diesel] at the pump…”
Gonsalves said that a consumer who pays EC$135 would see an increase slightly less than EC$10, about half of what it would have been had it not been for his government’s intervention.
He said that it did not make sense to remove value added tax on electricity “because if I do that, half the people who are poor people not paying the VAT in any case already because they consume less than 150 units a month… So I could do something which will help them.”
He anticipated criticism about why the subsidy was being extended to commercial consumers.
“But if I didn’t give the businesses the relief, they were going to pass it on. In any case, there are some mom and pop shops, which are really small people, own-account people who don’t have a domestic meter, but a commercial … Those are people at the margins too. I have to help them.”
Gonsalves said that with the rains beginning to return, hopefully hydro-electricity generation would increase rapidly and help to contain the fuel surcharge.
Prime MInister Gonsalves said that he is in conversation with Venezuela regarding how soon Caracas oil initiative, PetroCaribe would resume, noting the continued sanctions imposed by the United States.
“So there are some logistics which have to be worked out because we have to make sure we don’t run afoul of these unilateral sanctions the United States of America has put on Venezuela…,” Gonsalves said, noting that hile the sanctions are intended to put pressure on Venezuela, Washington recently sent a delegation to Caracas to discuss sourcing fuel.
Amazon to begin drone deliveries in California
Amazon says it will begin delivering parcels to shoppers by drone for the first time later this year, pending final regulatory approval.
Users in the Californian town of Lockeford will be able to sign up to have thousands of goods delivered by air to their homes, it said.
The shopping giant has promised drone delivery for years but has faced delays and reported setbacks.
But it said it planned to roll out the service more widely after Lockeford.
"The promise of drone delivery has often felt like science fiction," it said in a blog post. "[But] later this year, Amazon customers living in Lockeford, California, will become among the first to receive Prime Air deliveries.
"Their feedback about Prime Air will help us create a service that will safely scale to meet the needs of customers everywhere."
Amazon said the drones will be programmed to drop parcels in the backyards of customers in Lockeford, which has a population of about 4,000 people.
They will be able to fly "beyond-line-of-sight", meaning they don't have to be controlled by a visual observer and instead use sensors to avoid other aircraft, people, pets and obstacles.
The aim is to get packages to customers safely in less than an hour, the retailer said.
In the past, Amazon has been accused of using the promise of drone delivery as a headline-grabber to push its publicity around its Prime membership service.
In 2013, former boss and founder Jeff Bezos pledged to fill the skies with a fleet of delivery drones within five years. And in 2019, Amazon said it would be delivering by drone to customers "within months".
In April, a report by news site Bloomberg alleged safety concerns over its drones - although the retailer said it "rigorously" tested its flights in compliance with "all applicable regulations".
In December 2016, the company ran an apparently successful trial in Cambridge, UK. A package was delivered, by drone, in 13 minutes.
Since then it has trialled drone delivery partnerships with the US retailer Walmart and the courier firms FedEx and UPS.
Explaining how Prime Air deliveries would work, Amazon said: "Once onboarded, customers in Lockeford will see Prime Air-eligible items on Amazon. They will place an order
as they normally would and receive an estimated arrival time with a status tracker for their order.
"For these deliveries, the drone will fly to the designated delivery location, descend to the customer's backyard, and hover at a safe height. It will then safely release the package and rise back up to altitude."
Source-BBC
Ford Mustang Mach-E Has Battery Problem
Ford will recall 48,924 of its Mustang Mach-E electric vehicles to fix a problem with the battery that could cause the crossover to lose power during operation or be unable to start. The issue, Ford said, is with the battery's main contactors, which have the potential to overheat on the vehicles being recalled.
Ford issued a statement today that explained: "DC fast-charging and repeated wide-open-pedal events can cause the high-voltage battery main contactors to overheat. Overheating may lead to arcing and deformation of the electrical contact surfaces, which can result in a contactor that remains open or a contactor that welds closed. An overheated contactor that opens while driving can result in a loss of motive power, which can increase the risk of an accident."
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recalls website does not list any complaints from owners, and Ford notes that there are no investigations in progress about the issue.
Source-Car Driver
CDB’s 52nd Annual Meeting Starts Today
The on-island activities as part of the final leg of the Caribbean Development Bank’s (CDB) 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors here in the Turks & Caicos Islands begun this morning, with some 200 delegates meeting at the Shore Club in Providenciales. Activities will continue to take place over the next few days until Thursday, 16th June.
The meeting, held under the chairmanship of the Premier of the TCI and CDB Governor for the British Overseas Territories, Honourable Charles Washington Misick, will see discussions on key development challenges facing the region and innovative solutions. A delegation from the African Development Bank is also expected, with the President of the African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, being the featured speaker of the William G. Demas Memorial Lecture, hosted at Beaches Turks & Caicos on Tuesday, 14 June. The on-island activities will be the climax of the series of events as part of the 52nd Annual Meeting.
Premier Misick expressed that the TCI is happy to host the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the CDB under the theme Measure Better to Target Better: Adaptation and Resilience.
He said that working with the staff of the CDB, the country has shaped an exciting series of activities to make this annual meeting memorable and impactful. The meetings, seminars, and other events promise to enrich and enlighten.
Radio Turks & Caicos will be bringing live coverage of various CDB events throughout the week, including the official opening ceremony on Wednesday.