Grenada's Opposition critical of registration process, calls for fixed election date
The main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has called for a fixed election date in Grenada as it criticised the operations of the Parliamentary Elections Office (PEO) and the decision by the authorities to provide a 24 –hour window for the registration of voters ahead of the June 23 general election.
NDC leader, Dickon Mitchell, appearing on a social media programme hosted by the party on Sunday, said the announcement last Saturday night by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell disclosing the election date giving voters just one day to ensure that they are registered, undermines democracy on the island.
Prime Minister Mitchell told supporters of his ruling New National Party (NNP) that he had already asked Governor General, Dame Cécile La Grenade, to dissolve the Parliament on Monday, May 16 and to issue the writ for the polls on Tuesday.
“In other words, only one day you have to try to register, if you ain’t register yet. I warned you already, I warned you, I warned you,” he said, adding that the publication of the writs would be made on Wednesday, May 18, with Nomination Day being Wednesday June 1.
But Mitchell, an attorney who is leading the NDC into a general election for the first time, told the programme “an election is a very serious issue, it determines the shape of the country often not just for five years but for generations to come.
“It is a little unfortunate that obviously only 24 hours essentially in terms of a working day have been given to citizens who have not yet registered to be registered and I am sure they are displeased about that given that the election date is June 23.
“I certainly think that some more time could have been afforded to citizens who are not registered to be registered. It probably speaks to the mind-set of the incumbent. Democracy, the rule of law, the right to participate in elections should be something that should be amplified and our citizens should be given as much opportunity as possible to be able to take part in it,” Mitchell said.
“That is part of the reason why we have championed things like you need to have fixed dates for elections so that citizens are well aware in advance what the likely date is going to be, when the cut off period for registration is to be etc rather than playing games and engaging in suspense and often times putting citizens at a disadvantage”.
Mitchell said that the NDC, which governed the island from 2008 to 2013 and previously from 1990 to 1995, had also been critical of the PEO, saying “it has not functioned properly and at the standard citizens of Grenada deserve”.
He said many people had taken time off from their jobs and travelled to the registration offices, only to find it closed, or the technology not functions to allow them to complete their registration.
“And against that backdrop given only Monday for persons who are not registered to be registered in my view is rather unfortunate…(but) we know the vast majority of Grenadians are registered, I want to call and urge our citizens to make use of that very sacred and fundamental right to vote.
“That is a right that has been fought for. It is a right that has been won. We are an independent nation, there are many people across the world today who do not have the right to elect, “he added.
Meanwhile, in an open letter to the Supervisor of Elections,, Elvis Morain, the NDC expressed its “ on-going concerns with the management of the electoral process in Grenada, particularly the functioning of sub-offices in some Constituencies.
“These concerns have been repeatedly brought to your attention, directly in meetings between representatives of the NDC, you and your staff, in writing by several of our intended candidates and by reports in the media by party members and the public”.
The NDC warned that “if these concerns are not immediately addressed, it will not be possible to hold free and fair elections in the future, because the electoral process will be compromised.
“As you know, free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democratic system and can only take place if the electoral process is transparent in accordance with the law and there is public trust and confidence in it.
“You are aware of the important role that Registration Officers and their staff at the sub-offices play in the electoral process, from registration of voters and maintenance of accurate, sanitized electoral lists to conducting the poll on election day,” the NDC said, adding that despite repeatedly bringing these It said among the concerns are that names of voters that were objected to and the objections upheld, “have not been purged” from the electoral list.
“Many of these concerns and systemic deficiencies, including the failure to process claims and objections, the registration of people who are not entitled to be registered, assisted by Justices of the Peace and the absence of an accurate, sanitized, updated consolidated list were flagged in the report of the OAS Election Observer Mission dated 14th March 2018. Unfortunately, another election is upon us, and they have not been remedied.
“Being at the core of our democratic system, the electoral process must be such that there is public trust and confidence in it. As it stands now, this required public trust is undermined because these persistent deficiencies and flaws are not being addressed. It is your responsibility to fix these flaws,” the NDC said in its letter.
Source-CMC
St. Vincent green light to virtual asset legislation
The St. Vincent and the Grenadines has become the fourth member of the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU) to approve virtual assets legislation drafted by St. Kitts-based Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB).
The ECCU member countries are Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Finance Minister Camillo Gonsalves, who piloted the Virtual Asset Bill in Parliament, told legislators that it was taken “wholeheartedly” from the ECCB and had already been passed into law in Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, and St. Kitt-Nevis.
The law, which garnered bipartisan support, defines a virtual asset as “a digital representation of value that can be digitally traded or transferred and can be used for payment or investment purposes, and does not include digital representations of fiat currency or security”.
Gonsalves said that under the law, virtual assets do not include digital currency such as the ECCB’s DCash “but other representations of value that you can trade and transfer and buy and sell with…
“A lot of what you would know there would be what we call cryptocurrencies. And that is really the heart of the virtual asset regulatory framework, but there are other things.”
He said that under the law, virtual assets would also include non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
“But the core of what we’re talking about here is the rise of virtual currencies. And we have had in recent years, globally, an explosion in the use of virtual currencies. And we have gone, for example, from when Bitcoin, for example, was created in 2008, digital assets, including cryptocurrencies have seen explosive growth.”
Gonsalves said that five years ago, the market cap for digital assets globally was US$14 billion.
“Today it is three trillion. And over 100 countries in the world are trying to carve out digital currencies, like we have with DCash to create a digital form of a country’s sovereign currency,” he said, adding that the law requires an application process for the registration of a virtual asset business.
It requires relevant information to be provided at the application stage, for due diligence to be conducted on the directors and shareholders of each virtual asset service provider to determine whether or not they are fit and proper to operate such a business.
He said that the legislation is important for SVG, although not many people in the country might be trading with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The Finance Minister said one part of the reason is the regional nature of the law, in that the ECCU wants to have a standard legislative framework for virtual assets.
“But another reason is that already, given its size, given its rapid growth globally, the usual suspects in terms of international regulation have virtual assets on their radar.
“So the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering, which we’re all familiar with, in St. Vincent and the Grenadines and across the Caribbean because they’re constantly imposing new regulatory requirements on us, they have expressed their concerns with the unregulated use of virtual assets.”
He said that at the beginning of the year, the United States government issued specific guidance on the use of virtual assets.
“And the FATF has issued a recommendation since October of 2018, in terms of virtual assets and virtual asset service providers, and has stated that virtual assets have become subject to anti money laundering and counter terrorist financing schemes of countries.”
Gonsalves said that digital assets are “the next big thing in terms of finance and commerce globally.
“And it is useful for all of our countries to get out in front of it and regulate proactively rather than waiting, as we have done in the past, for regulations to be imposed upon us from afar,” Gonsalves told Parliament.
Source-CMC
Jackson's Thriller turns 40 years old
Michael Jackson's Thriller, the best-selling album of all time worldwide, marks its 40th anniversary this November 30, and in celebration of the milestone, an expanded version of the classic record will be released on November 18.
Michael Jackson Thriller 40 will be available as a two-CD set and via digital formats, and will feature the original Thriller album, along with a bonus disc of previously unreleased tracks that Jackson worked on during the 1982 album's sessions.
In addition, Walmart and Target will be releasing exclusive vinyl reissues of the original Thriller album with an alternate 40th anniversary cover. The Target reissue also will come with a commemorative Thriller 40 vinyl slipmat.
Meanwhile, the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab company will release high-quality audiophile versions of Thriller on November 18 as a single-LP vinyl disc and on the hybrid SACD format.
Thriller has sold over 70 million copies worldwide and has been certified 34-times Platinum by the RIAA, making it the second-best-selling album ever in the U.S., after the Eagles' 38-times-Platinum Their Greatest Hits 1971-1975 compilation.
Thriller spent an amazing 37 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200, spinning off seven top-10 hits, among them the chart-topping singles "Billie Jean" and "Beat It," and the #2 Paul McCartney duet "The Girl Is Mine."
The album also is credited with breaking the color barrier at MTV. In 1982, the channel rarely played clips by Black artists -- until "Billie Jean" came along. And the extended clip for "Thriller," directed by John Landis and filled with state-of-the-art special effects and over-the-top choreography, became the standard by which all music videos were judged.
You can preorder the Thriller reissues now.
Here's the original album's full track list:
"Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
"Baby Be Mine"
"The Girl Is Mine" (with Paul McCartney)
"Thriller"
"Beat It"
"Billie Jean"
"Human Nature"
"P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)"
"The Lady in My Life
ABC
Buffalo shooting: Gunman sought to 'continue his rampage'
A gunman who killed 10 people at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, planned further attacks after the mass shooting on Saturday, police have said.
The suspect, 18, drove more than 320km (200 miles) to carry out what is believed to be a racially-motivated crime.
He planned to keep driving and "shoot more black people," Buffalo's police chief told US media.
A pensioner, a former policeman and a grandmother were among the victims.
Mayor Byron Brown said the suspect arrived in Buffalo intending to take "as many black lives as possible".
A 180-page document seemingly authored by the alleged attacker Payton Gendron has emerged, in which he describes himself as a fascist and a white supremacist.
Questions are being asked about how he was able to carry out the shooting when concerns had already been raised. "I want to know what people knew and when they knew it," New York Governor Kathy Hochul told ABC News.
FBI officials have confirmed that the gunman spent a day and a half in hospital undergoing a mental health evaluation last year after he wrote that he wanted to commit a murder/suicide in a high school project.
No criminal charges resulted from the incident, and Buffalo police chief Joseph Gramaglia told reporters the gunman had only made "generalised threats".
He does not appear to have remained under watch by authorities.
Mr Gramaglia told US media that there was evidence to suggest he wanted to targeted a second store on Saturday if he had not been stopped.
Meanwhile, the gun store owner who sold the semi-automatic used in the attack told several US outlets that no alert came up when he ran the suspect's name through a government background check system.
New York's Attorney General Letitia James said her office would focus on extremist material online.
"This event was committed by a sick, demented individual who was fuelled [by a] daily diet of hate," she said.
The shooting has stunned the local community. One of those attending a vigil on Sunday told Reuters: "It just hurts, why somebody would do that."
Ten died and three others were injured.
Of the 13 people shot, 11 were black. Among those reported killed were a man buying cupcakes for his son's birthday and a woman who had gone shopping after visiting her husband at a nursing home.
Source-BBC
PABA NIGHT LEAGUE RETURNS TO THE TCI
On Sunday, 15th May, there was a huge basketball match between Five Cays Knights and The Flyers.
Defending champs Five Cays Knights started their quest for a third title by defeating the Flyers 61-54 in their first game of the TCIBF League 2022.
Jessy Missick was the high point for the Flyers, sources said, with 25 points, 12rebs, 3 assists, 2 blks. Melvin Elsie added 16 points, Anthony Cash led the way for the Flyers with 16 points, 1blk, and 2 steals while Darado Fulford, and Rico Forbes chipped in with 8 points each.
Predators preyed on Concrete Jungle 51-39 to secure their 2nd win in Game 2 of the Sunday night matchup in the TCIBF 2022 League.
Johan Meises led the way for the Predators with 16 points, 1 reb, 2 assists. Jordan Garland chipped in with 11 points and Omardi Morris was the high point man for Concrete Jungle with 15 points, 2 rebs, 1 assist. Levard Missick Jr. added 6 points, 12 rebs, 6 assists and 4 steals.
Pinoy Ballers pinned the Hustlers to a 79-61 exciting matchup in Game 1 of Sunday night. Dylan Morris poured in 14 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block for the Ballers and Travante Garland supported him with 13 pts, 2 rebs, 2 assists, and 4 steals.
Hustlers Twane Hall led the way with 15 pts, 10 rebs, 3 steals and Dwayne Folk chipped in with 13 points, 11 rebs, and 2 assists.
NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS 1,000TH ATP TOUR MATCH WITH VICTORY IN ITALIAN OPEN SEMIFINAL
Novak Djokovic became just the fifth man in history to reach 1,000 Tour wins as he defeated Norway's Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-3 in the Italian Open semifinals.
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl are the only other men to have reached the historic milestone. Djokovic reached his 1,000th win in 1,203 matches, making him the fourth fastest to achieve the feat, according to ATP stats.
The 20-time grand slam winner, who was presented with a cake by tournament organizers to celebrate the occasion, earned his first Tour-level win back in 2004 and has since gone on to become one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
"Thanks to the tournament and the crowd for celebrating the milestone with me," Djokovic said in his on-court interview with the ATP. "Obviously I was seeing Roger and Rafa celebrating those milestones in the last couple of years and I was looking forward to getting to that 1,000 myself.
He said that he is truly blessed and privileged to have that many victories on the Tour. It's been a long time since he played and won his first match on the Tour and hopefully he can keep going and there are many more victories to come, he said.
Djokovic, who is searching for his first title of the season, will be looking to make it 1,001 wins on Sunday as he takes on Greek world No. 5 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Italian Open final.
TWO PERSONS IN CUSTODY FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM
One male and one female are currently in Police custody after being arrested during the early hours of Sunday 15th May 2022, for Carrying Firearm and Ammunition.
At about 12:57am on Sunday 15th May 2022, while on mobile patrol in the Grace Bay area, a team of RTCIPF Officers conducted a stop and search on a small black vehicle, occupied by a male driver and a female passenger.
Just as the Officers were about to conduct a search on the driver, he pulled what appeared to be firearm from his waist and threw it over the said vehicle. The Officers quickly recovered the firearm and arrested the male driver and female passenger for Carrying Firearm and Ammunition. This remains an active investigation.
Global wheat prices jump after India export ban
The price of wheat has jumped on international markets after India banned the export of the staple cereal.
The benchmark wheat index rose as much as 5.9% in Chicago, the highest it has been in two months.
The export ban comes as a heatwave has hit India's wheat crops, taking domestic prices to a record high.
Wheat prices have soared by around 60% on world markets this year, pushing up the cost of everything from bread to noodles.
India's government said it would still allow exports backed by letters of credit that have already been issued, and to countries that request supplies "to meet their food security needs".
Government officials also said the ban was not permanent and could be revised.
However, the decision has been criticised by agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) nations meeting in Germany.
"If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis," German food and agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir said.
The G7 is an organisation of the world's seven largest so-called "advanced" economies, which dominate global trade and the international financial system. They are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the United States.
Although India is the world's second-biggest wheat producer, it has not previously been a major exporter as most of its crop is sold on domestic markets.
But Ukraine's wheat exports plunged after the Russian invasion. And with droughts and floods threatening crops in other major producers, commodity traders were expecting supplies from India to make up for part of the shortfall.
Before the ban, India had aimed to ship a record 10 million tonnes of wheat this year.
Global food prices hit a fresh record high in March after the Ukraine war caused a "giant leap", according to the United Nations (UN).
That came as the conflict cut off supplies from the world's biggest exporter of sunflower oil - Ukraine - which means the costs of alternatives also climbed. The country is also a major producer of cereals such as maize and wheat, which have risen sharply in price too.
The UN said that global food prices eased slightly in April but remain almost 30% higher than the same time last year.
Rising food prices, along with a jump in the cost of energy, have been pushing up inflation around that world.
That has forced major central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, to raise interest rates in an attempt to rein in rising prices.
That, in turn, has triggered concerns that the higher cost of borrowing could hit global economic growth, with some high-profile commentators warning of a recession.
On Sunday, Lloyd Blankfein, the senior chairman of Wall Street investment banking giant Goldman Sachs, said there is a "very, very high risk" of recession in the world's biggest economy.
Mr Blankfein's comments on CBS's Face the Nation came on the same day as Goldman Sachs economists cut their US economic growth forecasts for this year and next.
Source-BBC
MUSK PUTS TWITTER PURCHASE ON HOLD
Elon Musk has said his $44bn (£35bn) deal to buy Twitter is on hold after he queried the number of fake or spam accounts on the social media platform.
He said he was waiting for information "supporting [the] calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users".
Mr Musk added later that he was "still committed to [the] acquisition".
However, analysts speculated he could be seeking to renegotiate the price or even walk away from the takeover.
Mr Musk's tweets sent Twitter's share price plunging 10% in morning trade in New York.
Even before his comments, the company's stock had been selling for less than the $54.20 per share Mr Musk has offered, a sign that the markets were not convinced he would complete the buyout.
Dan Ives, a tech analyst at investment firm Wedbush Securities, said Mr Musk's comments would "send this Twitter circus show into a Friday the 13th horror show".
"Many will view this as Musk using this Twitter filing/spam accounts as a way to get out of this deal in a vastly changing market," he wrote in a note.
"The nature of Musk creating so much uncertainty in a tweet (and not a filing) is very troubling to us... and now sends this whole deal into a circus show with many questions and no concrete answers as to the path of this deal going forward."
Mr Musk has been vocal about "defeating the spam bots", identifying it as a key goal following his planned takeover of the company.
Twitter has long faced accusations of not doing enough to address automated, fake accounts posting content.
In a filing more than two weeks ago, Twitter estimated that fake accounts accounted for fewer than 5% of its daily active users during the first three months of this year. It cautioned that the figures were based on estimates and could be higher.
Those claims were not different from what the firm had shared in previous disclosures.
The number of spam bots on the service is a key statistic, as a higher than expected figure could hurt the ability to grow advertising revenue or paid-for subscriptions, said Susannah Streeter, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
But she said it was not clear how genuine Mr Musk's concerns were.
"There will also be questions raised over whether fake accounts are the real reason behind this delaying tactic, given that promoting free speech rather than focusing on wealth creation appeared to be his primary motivation for the takeover," she said.
"The $44bn price tag is huge, and it may be a strategy to row back on the amount he is prepared to pay to acquire the platform."
Weeks of market turmoil in the US have wiped billions off the value of many companies - including once favoured tech firms.
Tesla, the electric car company where Mr Musk serves as chief executive, has also seen its shares plunge - a hit to Mr Musk, whose status as the world's richest person is bound up in his stake in the company and who had planned to rely on his shares to help finance the Twitter purchase.
Last month, he raised $8.5bn by selling shares. He also planned to use the shares to secure $6.5bn in loans.
After Mr Musk tweeted that the deal was temporarily on hold, Tesla's share price gained more than 5%.
Source-BBC
Boston Celtics knock out defending champion Milwaukee Bucks
Defending champions the Milwaukee Bucks were eliminated from the NBA play-offs after a heavy defeat by the Boston Celtics in their Eastern Conference semi-final decider.
The Celtics won game seven 109-81 at home and will now face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals.
Grant Williams hit 27 points, including seven three-pointers, for Boston, while Jayson Tatum added 23.
Giannis Antetokounmpo top scored for the Bucks with 25 points.
The two-time former MVP started strongly as the Bucks led 26-20 after the first quarter, but then cooled off as the Celtics streaked away.
Boston converted 22 of their 55 three-point attempts, while Milwaukee made only four of their 33 efforts from deep.
The Celtics, who have won a joint-record 17 NBA titles along with the Los Angeles Lakers, move on to their fourth conference finals appearance in the last six years, seeking their first title since 2008.
The Phoenix Suns and the Dallas Mavericks play their Western Conference semi-finals game seven later on Sunday.
Source-BBC