THANKSGIVING MESSAGE FROM HON. SHARLENE C. ROBINSON PREMIER OF THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
"O Give Thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever. (1 Chronicles 16:34 King James Version)
Gratitude is a boundless force. This infinite energy reaches beyond the borders of a single day. We can, however, utilize this annual opportunity to reflect on the myriad of reasons for which we, individually and collectively, have to be thankful.
Throughout our journey as individuals and as a nation, it is of utmost importance to pause, reflect and reassess to chart the course ahead; particularly with new challenges presenting new obstacles. It is imperative that God's guidance is sought in tandem with our offerings of thanks and praise.
As we gather with our loved ones to share in joy and kinship on this National Day of Thanksgiving, let us be mindful of the many blessings bestowed upon us. May we keep at the forefront of our minds and prayers our neighbours and friends, both local and abroad, who have experienced loss and avail ourselves of every opportunity to reflect the compassion of our heavenly father.
I stand before the most high and the Turks and Caicos Islands with a heart overflowing with gratitude for his mercies; for what we have endured and for his grace on the road ahead. As leader of this great nation, I wholeheartedly embrace the opportunity to be of service and remain immensely thankful for the prayers and support offered on behalf of the leadership of these islands. I look toward our future with great optimism and as the most high continues to guide and protect us.
May God continue to bless the Turks and Caicos Islands and receive our sincere appreciation on this National Day of Thanksgiving.
ALERT #2 ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE #18 ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS MET OFFICE FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER, 2017
ALERT #2 ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE #18 ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER, 2017 AT 9PM EDT</b>.
...DISTURBANCE MOVING NORTH-NORTHWESTWARD THROUGH THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA...
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A LOW PRESSURE AREA LOCATED OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA ARE SHOWING SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT. THIS DISTURBANCE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF DEVELOPING INTO A TROPICAL STORM AND AFFECTING THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF ELEUTHERA, ABACO, NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, THE BERRY ISLANDS, BIMINI AND GRAND BAHAMA.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD AFFECT THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN 36 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF LONG ISLAND, EXUMA AND ITS CAYS, CAT ISLAND, RUM CAY AND SAN SALVADOR.</b>
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD AFFECT THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
AT 8 PM EDT, THE CENTER OF THE DISTURBANCE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.8 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 84.5 DEGREES WEST OR ABOUT 380 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF HAVANA CUBA AND ABOUT 677 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.</b>
THE SYSTEM IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 6 MILES PER HOUR. A FASTER NORTHWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN TONIGHT, FOLLOWED BY A FASTER MOTION TOWARD THE NORTHWEST ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK, THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS WESTERN CUBA LATE SATURDAY AND MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 40 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT, AND THE SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO BECOME TROPICAL STORM PHILIPPE TONIGHT OR SATURDAY.</b>
RESIDENTS IN ELEUTHERA, ABACO, NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, THE BERRY ISLANDS, BIMINI AND GRAND BAHAMA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY BEGIN TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR THE IMPACT OF POSSIBLE TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS BEGINNING ON SATURDAY NIGHT.
RESIDENTS IN SAN SALVADOR, RUM CAY, CAT ISLAND, LONG ISLAND AND THE EXUMAS SHOULD ALSO BEGIN TO MAKE PREPARATION FOR POSSIBLE TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS.</b>
REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT, MODERATE TO SEVERE FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED, AS THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL WITH AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES OVER THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.
SMALL CRAFT OPERATORS THROUGHOUT THE BAHAMAS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT AS HIGH WAVES GENERATED BY THIS SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE BAHAMAS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS.</b>
THE NEXT ALERT ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL STORM #18 WILL BE ISSUED AT 12AM EDT ON SATURDAY.
TCIG SUCCESSFULLY DEFENDS $8m CLAIM in respect of development in a National Park
TCIG has successfully defended against a claim totalling over $8m brought by Silly Creek Estates and Marina (SCEM). The claim, brought into the TCI Courts back in 2014, was wholly dismissed by the Honourable Chief Justice.
SCEM brought a claim for damages for breach of covenants contained in a 2006 Commercial Lease which allow for certain commercial development on Silly Cay, which falls within the boundaries of the Chalk Sound National Park. The damages claimed totaled more than $8m.
Central to the issues being litigated was a consideration of section 4 of the National Parks Ordinance, effect it has on the lease and SCEM's ability to undertake commercial development in a National Park. The Court decided that:
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) the development of privately owned residence, villas or guesthouses or private beach clubs is inconsistent with the statute's requirement that land in a National Park be for the enjoyment of the public;
(b) Crown cannot restrict the exercise of its powers in the public interest. Although the Crown is bound by the commercial contracts it makes, it is not bound by assurances as to what its executive action would be in the future as it cannot validly fetter its future executive action. Therefore, a promise to grant development permission, if one had been made, would amount to a fettering of the Governor's discretion to grant or reject an application for development permission and would be invalid. Such a promise would also be invalid as being contrary to the Physical Planning Ordinance and the statutory procedures set out therein with respect to the application for and grant of development permission;
(c) for the Crown to dispossess itself of Crown Land in a national park, the land would first have to be removed from the boundaries of national park. However, the Governor would not be entitled to remove land from an area designated as a national park without going through the requisite process of legislative change following a period of public consultation, a process in which the TCIG engaged in 2015/2016 and which informed their decision not to vary the boundaries of the Chalk Sound National Park or remove Silly Cay from the national park system;
(d) Commercial development on Silly Cay is unlawful and any promise to permit the development was made without lawful power and the claim for loss of opportunity to sell Silly Cay as land capable of being commercially developed therefore failed.
The Attorney General Hon. Rhondalee Braithwaite Knowles OBE commented; "TCIG is delighted to have received such a positive outcome in this litigation. An adverse result would have been potentially disastrous to the Government's efforts to ensure that there is protected land available to the public for recreational use and for enjoyment of the natural environment.
This also marks an important decision on the TCI's jurisprudence with respect to the exercise and fettering of discretion. I am particularly pleased with the work of Principal Crown Counsel Ms. Khalila Astwood who represented the Government on this very important piece of litigation.
Thanks too was also extended to the Hon. Chief Justice for dealing with the difficult legal issues at play with such clarity."
Facebook to disclose more on political ads
Facebook has announced measures to make political advertising on the social media platform more transparent.
Political advertisers will have to verify their identity and location and their posts will carry a disclosure saying "paid for by".
The steps come amid allegations that Russian-backed groups used social media ads to interfere in the US election.
Executives from Facebook and other internet giants will testify before a Senate hearing on Tuesday.
"When it comes to advertising on Facebook, people should be able to tell who the advertiser is and see the ads they're running, especially for political ads," Rob Goldman, Facebook's vice president of ads, said in a blog post.
By clicking on the "paid for by" disclosure, users would be able to see more details about the advertiser, he added.
Facebook said it was expanding the transparency measures to all ads, and that they would all have to be linked to a page. Users would also be able to view the ads any page was running, it added.
Tests for the new tools would start in Canada, with a goal of having them in place in the US ahead of the midterm elections, in November 2018.
Tech giants are keen to show they can self-regulate after it was found that Russian-backed groups were exploiting their ad platforms.
Source-BBC
ALERT #1 ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE
ALERT #1 ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL CYCLONE #18 ISSUED BY THE BAHAMAS DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY FRIDAY 27TH OCTOBER, 2017 AT 6PM EDT.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A LOW PRESSURE AREA LOCATED OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CARIBBEAN SEA ARE SHOWING SIGNS OF DEVELOPMENT. THIS DISTURBANCE HAS THE POTENTIAL OF DEVELOPING INTO A TROPICAL STORM AND AFFECTING THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF ELEUTHERA, ABACO, NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, THE BERRY ISLANDS, BIMINI AND GRAND BAHAMA.
A TROPICAL STORM WARNING MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD AFFECT THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN 36 HOURS.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS WHICH INCLUDES THE ISLANDS OF LONG ISLAND, EXUMA AND ITS CAYS, CAT ISLAND, RUM CAY AND SAN SALVADOR.
A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MEANS THAT TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS COULD AFFECT THE MENTIONED ISLANDS WITHIN THE NEXT 48 HOURS.
AT 5 PM EDT, THE CENTER OF THE DISTURBANCE WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.5 DEGREES NORTH AND LONGITUDE 84.5 DEGREES WEST OR ABOUT 415 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF HAVANA CUBA AND ABOUT 690 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NEW PROVIDENCE.
THE SYSTEM IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST NEAR 6 MILES PER HOUR. A FASTER NORTHWARD MOTION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN TONIGHT, FOLLOWED BY A FASTER MOTION TOWARD THE NORTHWEST ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK, THE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS WESTERN CUBA LATE SATURDAY AND MOVE THROUGH THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY.
MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE NEAR 40 MILES PER HOUR WITH HIGHER GUSTS. SOME STRENGTHENING IS FORECAST DURING THE NEXT 24 TO 36 HOURS. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BE CONDUCIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT, AND THE SYSTEM IS LIKELY TO BECOME TROPICAL STORM PHILIPPE TONIGHT OR SATURDAY.
RESIDENTS IN ELEUTHERA, ABACO, NEW PROVIDENCE, ANDROS, THE BERRY ISLANDS, BIMINI AND GRAND BAHAMA SHOULD IMMEDIATELY BEGIN TO MAKE PREPARATIONS FOR THE IMPACT OF POSSIBLE TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS BEGINNING ON SATURSDAY NIGHT.RESIDENTS IN SAL SALVADOR, RUM CAY, CAT ISLAND, LONG ISLAND AND THE EXUMAS SHOULD ALSO BEGIN TO MAKE PREPARATION FOR POSSIBLE TROPICAL STORM CONDITIONS.
REGARDLESS OF DEVELOPMENT, MODERATE TO SEVERE FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED, AS THIS SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL WITH AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 8 INCHES OVER THE NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL BAHAMAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY.
SMALL CRAFT OPERATORS THROUGHOUT THE BAHAMAS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT AS HIGH WAVES GENERATED BY THIS SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE BAHAMAS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
THE NEXT ALERT ON POTENTIAL TROPICAL STORM 18 WIL BE ISSUED AT 9PM EDT ON FRIDAY.
Toyota keeps 'game-changing' EV battery tech inhouse
Toyota will keep inhouse what it calls its "game-changing" solid state battery technology despite working with Mazda and Denso on a new architecture for electric cars.
Toyota is partnering with Mazda to create a toolbox of components that the automakers can dip into when making their own electric vehicles. Denso is a third partner in the joint venture called EV Common Architecture Spirit.
"We are cooperating with Mazda on a dedicated EV architecture, but we are keeping in-house the research on solid-state batteries,” Kiyotaka Ise, Toyota’s chief safety technology officer, told reporters at the auto show here on Wednesday.
Ise declined to say when the first EVs based on the architecture will debut, but said that the new architecture is designed to house current-generation lithium ion batteries and future solid-state batteries.
Toyota EVs with solid-state batteries are expected to launch early in the next decade.
Executive Vice President Didier Leroy believes Toyota is the leader in solid-state battery technology in terms of intellectual property. He sees them as "a game-changer" with the potential to dramatically improve driving range.
Toyota has more than 200 engineers working on this technology, Leroy said.
Toyota's solid-state batteries are based on lithium ion technology but can operate at a higher temperature than current lithium ion batteries. They do not require cooling and thus are much smaller.
Ise said: “With solid-state, we hope to increase battery density by around 50 percent compared with a same-sized lithium-ion cell." Another advantage of solid-state would be halving recharging times compared with current lithium ion batteries.
EU bank may not fully repay UK until 2054
Billions of euros of British taxpayers' money could remain locked into an EU bank for more than thirty years after Brexit, the UK has been warned.
Alexander Stubb, vice president of the European Investment Bank - in which the UK is a 16% shareholder - said it would not be fully repaid until 2054.
He described Brexit as a "travesty" but denied the move was a punishment.
The UK has 3.5bn euros (£3.1bn) of capital at the bank and a House of Lords report said the UK's investment could be worth 10.1bn (£8.9bn) euros taking into account reserves and profits.
Established in 1958, the EIB uses capital provided by EU countries to make loans at low rates, often for major infrastructure projects.
All 28 EU nations are shareholders in the Luxembourg-based bank, with the UK being the largest alongside Germany, France and Italy.
Mr Stubb, a former prime minister of Finland, told the BBC that the UK's money could be tied up for decades in after it leaves the EU in 2019.
"Everyone on both sides of the negotiating table agree that we have to pay back the 3.5 billion euro, basically in cash, and that will happen over a long period, up until 2054, because that's when the loans are amortised."
He insisted that no-one in the bank wanted to "punish" the UK for leaving and actually wanted to "alleviate the pain" of Brexit.
"I have a British heart pumping, I am married to a Brit, my children have dual nationality and I think Brexit is one of the biggest travesties that we have seen in the modern era," he said.
"So I will do everything in my power to alleviate the pain, but the economic facts are just such that there are no winners in Brexit - apart from perhaps a few lawyers. Unfortunately, we will see this in the coming years."
The BBC's Ross Hawkins said Today had heard how delays in authorising new loans while the UK remains part of the EU could see fewer social homes built.
One housing association, Stonewater, said it may build around 300 fewer homes because its application for £100m to build new properties had ground to a halt.
Its executive director John Bruton told the programme: "The Bank has been waiting for assurances from the UK government before the application can be progressed."
Source- BBC
Puerto Rico five weeks post-storm
Conditions in Puerto Rico are still heartbreaking more than five weeks after Hurricane Maria wrought devastation, with the lack of power and clean water compounding chronic conditions, medics say.
Doctor Kevin Munjal, assistant professor of emergency medicine, and nurse Stacey Conklin were part of a team from Mount Sinai Health System who worked 12-hours a day, seven days a week in tents, living on military-style MREs in Fajardo, in Puerto Rico's hard-hit east.
When the generator in the local hospital failed, medics had to "bag" patients by hand who were on ventilators, said Conklin, after the team returned from a two-week mission treating more than 1,600 patients.
Health conditions included lacerations on people who cut themselves with machetes or chainsaws while trying to clear debris, dropped generators on their feet or sustained kerosene burns.
"People would tell us that for them to get to the main road, they were having to chop their way through to get out," Munjal told AFP.
The lack of clean water means that viral and bacterial illnesses, such as conjunctivitis, norovirus and gastrointestinal infections, spread easily through people living in close quarters in shelters, they said.
Not only were there medication shortages, but the lack of power made long-term care difficult at home for those with chronic conditions.
"If we can get power back to the people I think that will end up solving a lot of the issues," said Munjal. "Power and clean water will do more for health outcomes than more medical tents."
He said he was moved by a woman in her 60s in considerable knee pain as a result of osteoarthritis.
"She has to stand in line everywhere to get the basic essentials, she was on the 16th floor of a building without power, so she had to go up 16 flights of stairs and down," Munjal told AFP.
"Stories like that, really, I think break your heart."
While an emergency prescription assistance program helps patients without insurance, others are falling through the gap if they have lost work and need to spend precious resources on food and clean water.
The US government has come under fire from Democrats who say the response has been woeful since Hurricane Maria hit the US territory of 3.4 million on September 20, two weeks after Hurricane Irma.
As team leader Conklin said she saw first-hand the huge logistical problems facing federal responders in a fluid disaster-response where communications were a challenge without adequate phone service.
"I think honestly that folks were doing the best that they can, but whether people realise that or not is a whole different story," she told AFP.
Around 75 per cent of customers are still without electricity and clean water is still scarce in many areas.
"You have to wonder, if you had a state in the United States that went 36 days without power," said New York's Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday after a one-day visit. "People would be outraged."
Source-AFP
House Republicans approve budget resolution, clearing way for tax reform
House Republicans narrowly approved the Senate-passed budget resolution, clearing a procedural hurdle and allowing the House of Representatives to take up tax reform.
The bill passed 216 –212, with all Democrats and some Republicans opposing the measure. Speaker Paul Ryan cast a rare vote in favor of the measure, highlighting the significance of the vote.
A group of New York Republicans opposed the bill out of concerns about potential changes to state and local tax deductions in the GOP tax reform plan to be formally proposed down the line.
While the nonbinding budget plan would add $1.5 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, all but the most strident deficit hawks voted for the measure, abandoning traditional GOP orthodoxy for their once-in-a-generation effort to rewrite the tax code using reconciliation -- the process which allows for a simple majority vote in the Senate in lieu of a 60-vote threshold for passage.
President Donald Trump has made that argument, pitching the possibility of tax reform to members this week as he rallied support for the budget resolution.
“He said, ‘Tom, just hold your nose, close your eyes and vote yes,’” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., said of Trump’s message in a phone call last Sunday. “I think that’s how a lot of guys are approaching it.”
After their failed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act this year, political considerations also trumped longstanding policy concerns for some members of the party.
“There wasn’t a win in health care and the base is frustrated,” Rep. Mark Sanford, R-S.C., told ABC News. “If there isn’t some sort of win I think there will be repercussions in 2018.”
Republicans will release the details of their tax plan next week, and hope to send the measure to the Senate by Thanksgiving.
Source- ABC
Some JFK assassination records released, others under further review
The National Archives released more than 2,800 previously classified or redacted records related to the 1963 assassination of President John F. Kennedy Thursday evening, but will withhold some of the records due to national security concerns, according to a memo from President Donald Trump.
The documents related to the investigation into Kennedy's murder -- consisting of files from the CIA, the FBI, the Defense and State departments and other agencies -- were scheduled to be released 25 years after the passage of the President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act of 1992. The law called for the records to be made available based on the approval of the president.
Trump issued a memo to the heads of executive departments certifying the declassification Thursday, but also noted that some expressed reservations and therefore ordered that federal agencies be given 180 days to re-review whether certain documents related to national security require continued redaction or withholding.
The 2,891 records that were released were posted on the National Archives' website, with more expected to be made public following the continued review.
The vast majority of records related to the assassination -- roughly 88 percent -- have been available since the late 1990s, with an additional 11 percent of the documents released, with redactions, since then.
Thursday's cache includes some of the remaining files and some of the redacted portions of previously released documents.
Source-ABC