Kim Kardashian West joins billionaires' club
US reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has joined the elite club of the super-rich (in case anyone had any doubts) by achieving billionaire status.
Her net worth reached $1bn (£720m) thanks to her cosmetics and clothing interests as well as income from TV, endorsement deals and investments, Forbes business magazine says.
She is now one of the 2,755 figures on Forbes' World's Billionaires List.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos leads the pack with a net worth of $177bn.
Other Americans added over the past year include Bumble dating app founder Whitney Wolfe Herd ($1.3bn), filmmaker Tyler Perry ($1bn) and Miriam Adelson ($38.2bn), widow of casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.
Kim Kardashian West's estranged husband Kanye West is already on the list ($1.8bn) but her half-sister, Kylie Jenner, was removed last May by Forbes. The magazine alleged her family had inflated the value of her cosmetics business.
Source-BBC
White House rules out a US vaccine 'passport'
The White House on Tuesday ruled out imposing any form of a coronavirus vaccine passport in the United States, but said private businesses were free to explore the idea.
"The government is not now, nor will be, supporting a system that requires Americans to carry a credential. There will be no federal vaccinations database and no federal mandate requiring everyone to obtain a single vaccination credential," Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters.
So-called vaccine passports, showing that someone has been inoculated against COVID-19, have been touted around the world as a potentially powerful tool in safely reopening countries to mass gatherings and travel.
However, the idea has prompted widespread pushback over concerns due to potential privacy or other civil rights abuses.
Psaki said that the strongest interest comes from private businesses looking to reopen sites where "there are large swaths of people," like in stadiums or theatres.
She said the government will be issuing "guidance" with "important answers to questions that Americans have in particular around concerns about privacy, security or discrimination".
"Our interest is very simple from the federal government, which is Americans' privacy and rights should be protected, and so that these systems are not used against people unfairly," Psaki said.
Source-ABC
Manchester City have reported a devastating loss of 126 million pounds
The Premier League leaders Manchester City have reported a devastating loss of 126 million pounds for the 2019-20 season which was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.
The club posted an 11% reduction in revenue to £478.4m but the figure does not include delayed income from player sales - including proceeds from Leroy Sane's move to Bayern Munich.
City expect an immediate return to profit for the current season.
A total loss of less than £60m per year is forecast over the two campaigns.
For Financial Fair Play purposes, the financial results of football clubs for 2019-20 and 2020-21 are to be combined into one year.
Chairman Khal-doon Al Mu-barak said the club is "fundamentally strong, with committed shareholders and with significant assets, built carefully over a decade and upon more than a century of history".
"Our long-term approach has meant that we are now not wholly dependent on income streams that have been most vulnerable to the ongoing impact of Covid-19," he added.
The Premier League season was postponed between March and June 2020 due to the pandemic, which has since prevented fans from attending games.
Source-BBC
Brazil's daily COVID death toll surpasses 4,000
Brazil registered more than 4,000 COVID-19 deaths in 24 hours for the first time Tuesday, the health ministry said, as the country reeled from a surge of infections that has made it the current epicentre of the pandemic.
The coronavirus claimed 4,195 lives in the deadliest day of the pandemic yet for the hard-hit country, whose total reported death toll is now nearly 337,000, second only to the United States.
Brazil's health system is buckling under the strain of the latest virus wave, which has forced doctors into agonizing decisions over which patients to give life-saving care and led cemeteries to hold night time burials to deal with the crush of coffins.
Experts say the surge is partly caused by a local variant of the virus known as P1 that can re-infect people who have had the original strain and is believed to be more contagious.
The country of 212 million people has registered an average of 2,757 COVID-19 deaths per day over the past week, the highest by far worldwide.
TCI's Immigration Minister, Hon. Arlington Musgrove addresses Smuggled Syrian article
A newspaper article released over the weekend entitled," Syrian smuggled through TCI on Haitian Sloop.." has created an opportunity for the Minister of Immigration, the Hon. Arlington Musgrove to step forward and set the record straight for his Government.
In the Sun's article, the editor in chief stated, ' that many other Syrians have been been able to elude law enforcement authorities and successfully made it to the U.S & Canada"
In response, the Minister added that I have read with interest an article in one of the local newspapers, speaking about a Syrian national being smuggled through these Turks and Caicos Islands.
To set the record straight, here are the facts as I know them:
On 8th January 2021 around 8:23am members of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force- Marine Division found a boat in Turk and Caicos Islands waters, in the Northwest Point area of Providenciales, with just one person on board, at the time.
It would later be determined that the boat, which entered the TCI illegally would have had a total of twenty-five (25) persons on board, including twenty-two (22) males of which Mr. Moin Alhashash, was one and three (3) Haitian females.
Mr. Moin was able to be interviewed in creole, through an interpreter, as he spoke creole, having spent fourteen (14) months in Haiti, where he learned the language.
It was never Mr. Moin’s intention to remain in the TCI, as his plan was to go to the United States (Miami, FL), having paid the captain of the Haitian sloop four thousand (US$4,000.00) dollars.
Mr. Moin was arrested and charged by members of the Enforcement Unit under the Immigration Ordinance for the offence of “Unlawful Entry,” to which he pleaded guilty.
The matter was heard before the Chief Justice on 22nd March 2021. Mr. Moin was sentenced to time served and suspended the recommendation for deportation for 6 months.
Subsequent to the hearing and having been advised of the outcome by the Deputy Director of Prosecutions, the Immigration Authorities set matters in motion to secure alternative accommodation for Mr. Moin. By the time application for the issuance of a writ of habeas corpus in respect of Mr. Moin was heard before the Supreme Court on 30th March 2021, those arrangements were well advanced and Mr. Moin had been safely relocated by 2:00pm the same day. The release makes the proposed issuance of the writ nugatory and of no effect.
I hasten to add, that the contents of the story are somewhat misleading in certain respects and paints a distorted picture of my Immigration Department and staff. The flagrant allegations of abuse of statutory power is regrettable. The Immigration authorities are not infallible and have made some mistakes, but endeavor as much as possible to keep their processes and operations within the four corners of the law and do not believe themselves to be a superior force entitled to operate above the law.
I can safely say that we have begun to review our processes within the Immigration Detention Center, a process which we will continue to do every six (6) months, with the assistance of our Senior Managers, Legal advisers and other independent and experienced personnel, aimed at improving our staff and services to the public. There is ongoing training in key problem areas and post mortem reports and reviews. Out of these reviews, there were recommendations for improvement and bridging of gaps in both Immigration legislation and policy development and the implementation process for these recommendations has commenced.
It must be noted contrary to assertions made that the Immigration Authorities take seriously any matter of detention and fully understand the constitutional implications of prolonged or any detention.
I should state that the Sri Lankan matter should not be used as a yardstick to measure the competence of the Immigration Department to adequately manage the entry of unlawful immigrants, their detention and eventual removal from the Turks and Caicos Islands. The situation with the Sri Lankans was unique and complex and presented its own peculiar challenges, which necessitated the assistance of specially trained investigators. The immediate repatriation of the Sri Lankans was inhibited by the Covid -19 pandemic and eventual closure of jurisdictional borders. That being said, there have been lessons learned and indicators for improvement in certain areas and efforts are already on stream to address these issues.
Our standard operating procedures and rules have been set against best world practices and probably mirrors that of the UK. However, we recognize that these procedures require continuous review and oversight and we have already secured assistance to review and update our existing procedures.
In addition, we have the full-time assistance of the Attorney General’s Chambers staff, who continue to work with us, when called upon to do so.
Finally, we want to once again encourage all those persons residing among us illegally to leave the TCI as soon as possible or face the consequences added Hon. Musgrove.
China's biggest car brand to launch rival to Tesla
China's biggest carmaker Geely is launching a premium electric car brand it hopes will take on Tesla.
The Chinese company, which owns Volvo and Lotus, announced its Zeekr brand on Tuesday to tap into China's demand for electric vehicles (EVs).
It comes as Elon Musk goes on the charm offensive in China praising its plans to tackle carbon emissions.
The Tesla founder has seeking to allay Chinese concerns about his cars' onboard cameras.
Geely said it would develop and manufacture high-end EVs under the Zeekr brand and expected to begin deliveries in the third quarter of 2021.
It already has exposure to premium electric cars through the brands it owns. Polestar, owned by Volvo Cars, develops electric performance cars. It is headquartered in Sweden with vehicle production taking place in China.
Lotus, which is majority-owned by Geely, is working on an electric-powered supercar called Evija.
Geely also owns London black cab maker, the London EV Company, and has focused on building plug-in hybrid taxis, which have both a petrol engine and electric battery.
Zeekr, its own home-grown EV brand, will face fierce competition from Tesla whose Model 3 was the top-selling electric vehicle model in China last year. It will also compete with Chinese groups Nio, Xpeng and Li Auto which are seeing healthy sales.
Last week, Dongfeng Motor, the Chinese partner of Japan's Nissan and PSA Peugeot Citroen of France, said its new EV brand Voyah could start delivering cars to Chinese customers in July.
Beijing wants more than a fifth of vehicles sold in China to be electric by 2025.
Geely has ambitions to become China's first global automaker with a reach similar to Volkswagen. Along with its Volvo and Lotus brands, it owns a minority stake in Mercedes-Benz owner Daimler.
The initial strategy for Zeekr will be focused on the Chinese market but it will also explore overseas opportunities given rising global demand for premium electric vehicles.
The premium brand will operate under a new entity named Lingling Technologies, which will be based in Hefei, eastern China.
Source-BBC
Janet Yellen pledges greater US international co-operation
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has signalled a stronger engagement on issues from climate change to human rights to tax evasion, pledging to restore America's economic leadership.
"America first must never mean America alone," she said in her first major speech on its overseas economic policy.
Ms Yellen is also keen for greater global co-operation, rolling back Donald Trump's protectionist policies.
She also raised the issue of a global corporate tax rate.
"Over the last four years, we have seen first hand what happens when America steps back from the global stage," Ms Yellen said pointing to a reversal of Mr Trump's international economic policies.
The US "isolated ourselves and retreated from the international order that we created," she added.
Marking an American return to the global stage, she said: "For in today's world, no country alone can suitably provide a strong and sustainable economy for its people."
As part of the increased global leadership role for the US, Ms Yellen outlined the case for a harmonised corporate tax rate across the world's major economies.
"Together we can use a global minimum tax to make sure the global economy thrives based on a more level playing field in the taxation of multinational corporations, and spurs innovation, growth and prosperity," Yellen said during an online interview with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
Corporate taxes are one of the revenue-raising proposals for President Joe Biden's $2.25 trillion (£1.62 trillion) package of infrastructure and other spending announced last week.
Ms Yellen wants to halt what she described as an international "race to the bottom" by countries competing to lure corporations with lower taxes.
While she said the Biden-Harris administration is committed to helping "make the world economy stronger" she added that it also wanted to "advance American interests".
Ms Yellen hinted at a softer approach towards the growing threat of China, which the US is still embroiled in a trade war with.
"Our economic relationship with China, like our broader relationship with China, will be competitive where it should be, collaborative where it can be, and adversarial where it must be," she added.
Source-BBC
Amid wastewater overflow threat, Florida officials urge residents to heed evacuation orders
Florida officials are urging residents in the surrounding areas of a wastewater storage pond to heed evacuation orders ahead of a potential overflow of polluted water.
On Friday, the Manatee County Public Safety Department warned of an "imminent threat" of an uncontrolled release of wastewater from the former Piney Point phosphate processing plant in Palmetto after a breach was detected in one of the walls of the southern reservoir, which holds about 800 million gallons of water containing phosphorus and nitrogen.
An estimated 300 million gallons of water remained in the pond as of Sunday, acting Manatee County Administrator Dr. Scott Hopes told reporters Sunday.
Residents within a 1-mile radius of the plant were ordered to evacuate, and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency Saturday in Manatee County as well as neighboring Hillsborough and Pinellas counties over the threat.
The pond where the leak was discovered contains stacks of phosphogypsum, a radioactive byproduct from manufacturing fertilizer, according to the Associated Press. It also contains small amounts of naturally occurring radium and uranium, and the stacks can release large concentrations of radon gas as well.
On Monday, a discovered a possible second breach. Fears of a complete breach at an old phosphate plant led authorities to evacuate more than 300 homes, close portions of a major highway and move several hundred jail inmates nearby to a second floor of the facility.
To stave off a catastrophic flood, more pumps were headed to the site to slowly drain the water and divert it to Tampa Bay, which could lead to negative environmental consequences such as fish kills and algae blooms.
Source-ABC
Google wins big in Supreme Court clash with Oracle
In the multi-billion Supreme Court clash between two titans of tech, Google emerged as the victor on Monday.
In a 6-2 opinion by Justice Stephen Breyer, the court said that Google's use of 11,000 lines of code -- copied without permission from Oracle's Java program -- to create the Android smartphone operating system -- constitutes fair use as a matter of law and does not require compensation.
"We assume, for argument’s sake, that the material was copyrightable. But we hold that the copying here at issue nonetheless constituted a fair use. Hence, Google’s copying did not violate the copyright law," Breyer wrote.
The decision reversed a lower court ruling in favor of Oracle, which had sought $9 billion in damages from Google for copyright infringement.
The stakes in the case -- dubbed the "copyright case of the century" -- are significant for both companies, the software industry and everyday American investors. Millions of Americans' 401k retirement savings plans include investments in Google.
Experts have said a decision in favor of Google, allowing the copying of code as "fair use," could facilitate more rapid development of new consumer products and technological innovation -- essentially allowing companies to build on each other.
But there could be a downside: Some start-up companies fear the decision could harm their ability to turn a profit if giants like Google can swoop in and copy without compensation.
Source-ABC
Hundreds of fans gather for prayer vigil honoring DMX
Hundreds of supporters of multiplatinum rapper DMX gathered outside the hospital, where his lawyer says he remains in grave condition, to hold a prayer vigil Monday night.
The vigil was spearheaded by the Ruff Ryders to the Rescue Foundation following a much smaller gathering the previous night in order to pay respects.
TMZ reports that, among those gathered outside the hospital, were his fiancee Desiree and their four-year-old child, Exodus.
The rapper's ex-wife, Tashera Simmons, also attended the vigil and praised fans for their dedication.
In addition, Yadira Borrego, of whom he has children with, was also spotted in the crowd.
In addition to saying prayers in hopes of a full recovery, fans also played DMX's music to honor his decorated rap career.
The "X Gon' Give It to Ya" rapper -- born Earl Simmons -- suffered a heart attack over the weekend and was transported to the White Plains Hospital in New York.
DMX's family released a statement late Sunday, calling fans to send their prayers and well wishes.
"On Friday night, April 2nd, 2021, our brother, son, father, and colleague DMX, birth name of Earl Simmons, was admitted to White Plains (NY) Hospital, facing serious health issues," the family said. "We ask that you please keep Earl/DMX and us in your thoughts, wishes, and prayers as well as respect our privacy as we face these challenges."
It is unknown at this time if DMX's condition has improved.
Source-ABC