BMW headquarters searched by EU investigators
BMW has confirmed its head office was searched this week by European Union officials investigating an alleged cartel among five German carmakers.
EU investigators are looking into allegations that BMW, Daimler, VW, Audi and Porsche colluded to limit their spending on emissions technology.
BMW said EU staff had inspected its Munich offices, adding that it was assisting the regulators in their work.
Also on Friday, Daimler said it had filed an application for leniency.
The firm, which owns Mercedes-Benz, also has no current plans to set aside funds for possible fines, according to chief financial officer Bodo Uebber.
EU and German regulators are looking at allegations that the companies collaborated for decades on many aspects of development and production, disadvantaging customers and suppliers.
BMW said it wanted to make clear the distinction between potential violations of EU antitrust law, and the illegal manipulation of exhaust emissions, which it denies.
In July, Volkswagen defended its record after allegations that it teamed up with other German car giants to breach EU cartel rules.
VW said it was normal for manufacturers to exchange technical information to speed up innovation.
However, it declined to comment on specific allegations that the five carmakers colluded on price and technology.
Canada to host crisis talks on Venezuela
Canada will host ministers from a dozen Latin American and Caribbean nations next week for crisis talks aimed at ratcheting up pressure on the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said Friday the October 26 meeting will explore ways to bring an end to the drawn-out political and economic crisis in the oil-rich nation.
"Together with our like-minded partners, we will continue to increase pressure on the Maduro regime," Freeland said.
"Our objective is clear: a peaceful solution to the crisis and the restoration of democracy and human rights for all Venezuelans."
The ministerial meeting will include representatives from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and Saint Lucia.
A fierce power struggle has been raging for months between Maduro's left-wing nationalist government and the center-right opposition.
Almost 130 people have died in the unrest since the beginning of April, according to data from human rights activists, and more than 5,000 people have been arrested.
Canada and the United States have imposed sanctions against Venezuela's leadership, calling out its "anti-democratic behavior" following the installation of a loyalist assembly that supersedes the country's opposition-controlled National Assembly.
On Tuesday, Freeland further criticised Venezuela's recent gubernatorial elections, saying the process was characterised by "irregularities."
Maduro responded with an expletive-laced verbal attack on the "insolent" and "stupid government of Canada."
Source-AFP
CRFM wants risk insurance for fisheries sector in the Caribbean
The Belize-based Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) Friday said the destruction by Hurricanes Irma and Maria underscores the need for regional countries to press forward with risk insurance for the fisheries sector.
The hurricanes, which swept through the Lesser Antilles last month, killed several people and left billions of dollars in damage. Most affected were Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, as well as the Turks and Caicos Islands.
CRFM said that risk insurance scheme is being developed by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC), formerly known as the CCRIF) in collaboration with the World Bank.
It said this initiative to develop risk insurance for the fisheries sector in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries is supported by the United States government under the Caribbean Ocean and Aquaculture Sustainability Facility (COAST).
CRFM said that at its seventh Ministerial Council meeting in Guyana earlier this month, policy-makers underscored the need for CARICOM member countries to move ahead with adopting risk insurance that would enable the fisheries sector and fishers to bounce back more quickly after a hurricane strikes.
It said so far, there has been no pay-out provided specifically for the rehabilitation and recovery of the fisheries sector, although there have been other pay-outs under the broader umbrella of the CCRIF scheme.
Since its establishment in 2007, the CCRIF SPC has paid an estimated US$100 million to 12 of its 17 member countries – all within 14 days of the disaster event.
“Having such an insurance scheme is one of the good things we can do to help fishers get back on their feet as soon as possible after a disaster,” said CRFM Executive Director, Milton Haughton.
He said the development and implementation of the livelihood protection policy for individual small-scale operators and the sovereign parametric policy for states that the CCRIF SPC is working on, now assumes greater urgency for the sector.
Haughton said he is hopeful that in light of the destruction and devastation which the recent hurricanes have caused in CRFM member states such as Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Haiti, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, and Turks and Caicos, that all parties will redouble their efforts to get the risk insurance facilities for the sector established as soon as possible and certainly before the next hurricane season.
He said that the insurance policies are being designed to provide quick relief to those fishers who experience distress as a result of disasters such as hurricanes.
Source-CMC
OVERSEAS PRISON OFFICERS RECEIVE COURTESY VISIT FROM PREMIER AND MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS
Following the challenges experienced following the Passage of Hurricanes Irma/Maria, the Government received an offer of assistance from the UK Prison Service for the provision of 20 Prison Officers. This support has come at the UK's expense and we are again delighted for the UK's continued support in this period.
In welcoming the Officers, Premier Robinson thanked the group of men and women for their service that was already helping to make a difference and of course extended welcome to the Islands. She continued by inviting them to serve with excellence and touted their presence as a perfect training opportunity for the resident Prison Officers. She further remarked that the role of Prison Officers is critical to the country's need to have individuals return to society as productive citizens hence her continued strong push for rehabilitation of offenders. She wished them well on their sojourn and committed support their endeavors.
"We must ensure that there is a transference of knowledge and skill at the end of this period and that the Prison is better for the experience," said Premier Robinson.
Premier Robinson and Hon Delroy Williams also took the opportunity to benefit from a Meeting with the Superintendent of the Prison and the Head of the UK Team.
PREMIER ROBINSON PLEASED WITH TOURISM LEADERS AND PARTNERS AND HOPEFUL FOR A STRONG SEASON
Premier Hon. Sharlene Robinson shared her pleasure with the progress of the Tourism Sectors' Post Irma and Maria efforts and had high praises for the country's leaders in this sector.
"I am delighted with the efforts made by the Minister of Tourism and his Team in the Ministry and at the Board in their stewardship during this time."
At a General Meeting of TCHTA held this week and attended by Premier Robinson and her spouse, Hon Ralph Higgs - Minister of Tourism and Hon Karen Malcolm and her spouse Mr. Walter Malcolm. Premier Robinson thanked the members of the TCHTA present for their efforts to get their Resorts and businesses open; for the updates received on repairs, progress and challenges shared directly with her; efforts to assist their staff and the efforts to have a strong upcoming season in particular the videos and positive stories. She also pledged her Government's continued assistance where it can.
"I am proud of this Industry during this period under the leadership of President Nikheel Advani and I find in them true, valuable partners. Our leading Industry has been sorely impacted and it is important that we make every effort, with all hands on deck, to rebound stronger in the fast approaching high season. I am equally proud of the go getter leadership of Director of Tourism, Ramon Andrews and the entire Board. Not at least I am proud of the efforts of our renown Minister of Tourism who is more than capable of leading this vital sector. This is true partnership at work and this level of participation, collaboration towards one end goal sets this sector as the Poster Child for what the country must do in order to recover and rebuild stronger than ever before", said Premier Robinson.
"I am optimistic that we will have a strong season and I, like the Minister of Tourism will join in the promotional campaign "Open for Business" by releasing a short welcome video shortly. We are excited and indeed ready to continue to welcome guests to our resilient and positively beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands."
Wall Street finishes week at fresh highs
The main Wall Street indexes finished at fresh record highs on the back of increased confidence that President Trump's tax cut plan will progress.
The Dow Jones rose 165.59 points to 23,328.63, while the Nasdaq index was 23.99 points higher at 6,629.05.
The wider S&P 500 index posted its sixth week of gains, climbing 13.11 points to 2,575.21.
On Thursday the Senate passed a budget blueprint, a move that is being seen as raising the likelihood of tax cuts.
Shares of General Electric reversed steep early losses to finish 1.1% higher.
The industrial giant reported a 5% fall in third quarter earnings to $1.8bn, which was worse than expected, but new chief executive John Flannery promised to do what it takes to turn around the firm.
The firm also slashed its forecast for full-year operating profits to between $1.05 and $1.10 a share, compared with the estimate of $1.60-$1.70 a share it made in July.
However, bank stocks rose after the Senate approved the budget resolution for the 2018 fiscal year.
Shares in JP Morgan Chase rose 1% and Goldman Sachs was 2% higher.
Source-BBC
PREMIER CONTINUES TO WELCOME CRITICAL DELEGATIONS
Premier Robinson continues to welcome many regional and international partners who are offering assistance and support in the country's Recovery efforts.
"The level of assistance being offered is unprecedented and we are grateful that in this climate where many countries around the world are affected by recent disasters, our country is being considered favorably in our early framing days of our recovery strategy. We have a few more critical assessments to complete and we are pleased that the various offers of assistance can be factored in for consideration in our Strategic Recovery Framework", said Premier Robinson. "People are eager to learn what if anything the Government is able to do in terms of housing repairs, business support and rebuilding. We are closer to that date and we are pleased with the critical work done thus far."
"Last week I was pleased to welcome the DFID/FCO Reconstruction Team which comprised of critical skills and posts. The Team led by Chris Austin, Barbados based head of the UK Joint Task Force in the region comprised of David Barlow, Consultant on Emergency Planning; Alex Stevens, Head of OT Governance Team, DFID; John Bowker, Infrastructure Advisor, DFID; David Woolnough and Miriam Sachak, head of Economic and Financial team, DFID, FCO. The Team was able to meet with the Governor, myself, Ministers, Senior Public Service Management and critical Department Heads. I was pleased with the dialogue and was satisfied with the initial feedback received in the Debriefing at the end of the Visit. The Team will report to the UK Ministerial Group and formal dialogue will follow on our country's needs and the UK's commitments."
"I was likewise delighted to receive a courtesy call from a Bahamian Delegation led by the Hon Philip Brave Davis, Leader of the Opposition and which included Member of Parliament, Hon Paiswell Forbes and Senator the Hon Jobeth Coleby Davis.
"This week, I welcomed Caribbean representative, Diane Quarless for UN ECLAC. At my invitation, a full delegation will travel to TCI the first week of November to continue the critical damage and Loss Assessment Report. The work of UN ECLAC is critical in assessing our economic loss and recommendations for recovery efforts."
23rd POST CABINET MEETING STATEMENT
His Excellency the Governor, Dr John Freeman, chaired the 23nd meeting of the Cabinet on Tuesday, 17 October 2017, at the Hilly Ewing Building on Providenciales.
All Ministers were present.
At this meeting Cabinet:
• Provided His Excellency the Governor with September's TCIG Financial Report. It was agreed that further information on the budgetary position for the rest of the current Financial Year would be provided in the week of 23 October;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve reduced provision from the National Forfeiture Fund for the hosting in the Islands of Pre-Assessment training in October and Financial Action Task Force Standards training in November by the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the tabling of a Bill recognising the offices of the Supreme Court Registry in both Grand Turk and Providenciales;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the tendering of Crown Land Parcel 60603/18;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve the regularisation of fees for services being rendered by the Survey and Mapping Department to the general public;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve extended repayment terms for salary advances paid to Public Officers under the Hurricane Irma Salary Advance scheme. Details will be provided to the Public Service separately;
• Advised His Excellency the Governor to approve Planning Applications NC 1109 and SC 760;
• Received an information paper from the Hon. Attorney General on Crown Land Holding in TCI, as requested by the Premier;
• Received an update from the Hon. Deputy Governor, as requested by the Hon. Premier, on TCIG's Annual Recruitment Plan for the Financial Year 2017/2018, including an update on critical current vacancies and efforts to fill them;
• Received a report from the Hon. Premier on the visit to TCI last week of the UK Recovery Advisory Team and on discussions held with them;
• Received a report from the Hon. Premier on a meeting she held with the Caribbean Representative of the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean team;
• Received a report from the Hon. Minister of Tourism on the arrest of a vessel caught poaching in TCI waters.
• Received an update from the Hon. Deputy Premier on the two recent sloops intercepted and the repatriation process
Further information on these matters will be provided by Ministers in due course.
TCI delegation attends CTO's State of the Industry Conference 2017
The Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) hosted its annual State of the Industry Conference on 9-13th October 2017 in the 'Spice Island' of Grenada, under the theme "Super Charging the Caribbean Brand: Meeting the needs of the new explorers".
The conference welcomed a number of high profile speakers, led by Dorsey Levens, Founder and President of Levens Communications, who delivered the key note address; distinguished speakers shared best practices, current trends in tourism and what vacationers are looking for now and in future.
Following the passage of hurricanes Irma and Maria which affected several countries across the region the CTO added to its program a special session: Recover & Rebuild, an in-depth three-hour segment. The session focused on the economic cost of disasters, employment, the cost to rebuild and the recovery time from leading experts. The delegation led by Minister Higgs participated in various sessions including:
Spicing up the Caribbean Brand
Active Engagement-Riding the Technological Wave
Who are the new Explorers?
A staple on the program was the highly anticipated tourism youth congress TCI was represented by Miss Zaria Ingham, Jr. Minister of Tourism. The Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress featured the "National Junior Ministers of Tourism" comprising of students between the ages of 14-17 from several CTO member countries. Participants debated on prominent tourism issues sharing their vision for the future direction of regional tourism.
Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage, Culture & Gaming, Ralph Higgs commented; "Although we did not secure the top prize in the competition, Miss Ingham did an amazing job representing Turks and Caicos, I must commend her on an outstanding performance, she was well-prepared and poised presenting on the indigenous Rock Iguanas. This year's conference came at particularly significant time following two devastating hurricanes to ever hit the region, it was important for us as policy makers and tourism professionals to assemble in an effort to share our stories and garner support. Like some of our neighbors, we also used the opportunity to spread the message, that we are open for business."
The team consisted of Minister Hon. Ralph Higgs, Head of Secretariat Mellisa Ariza, Training Manager Ms. Blythe Clare and Jr. Minister of Tourism, Miss Zaria Ingham.
CTO's State of the Industry Conference is the Caribbean Tourism Organization's annual convocation where Caribbean tourism practitioners, policy makers and strategic partners, at the highest levels, gather to discuss issues, identify solutions and generally develop courses of action that will benefit the tourism industry in the Caribbean.
CTO, with headquarters in Barbados and offices in New York and London, is the Caribbean's tourism development agency comprising membership of 28 countries and territories including Dutch, English, French and Spanish, as well as a myriad of private sector allied members.
The organization provides specialized support and technical assistance in sustainable tourism development, marketing, communications, advocacy, human resource development, event planning & execution and research & information technology.
UK Government Establishing Task Force to Help Reconstruction in Hurricane-Hit Islands
The United Kingdom (UK) government will set up a private sector task force to help long-term reconstruction in countries and territories hit by last month’s Hurricanes Irma and Maria, including the Turks and Caicos Islands.
International Development Secretary in the Department for International Development (DFID), Priti Patel said the task force will mobilize private sector support to rebuild critical infrastructure, such as roads and power supplies, essential to get economies up and running again, and better withstand future natural disasters.
It will also look at ways in which support from the private sector, both financial and technical, in industries such as construction, insurance, banking and tourism, can be used to help reconstruction on the three UK Overseas Territories worst hit by last month’s Hurricane Irma - the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The team of top business leaders, with experience in the Caribbean, will sit on the task force.
The announcement about the task force was made last Friday at a meeting to discuss the response to the hurricanes and how to enhance global crisis-preparedness and response, hosted by the World Bank in Washington D.C.
Ms. Patel will convene a meeting in London in November to discuss how best to maximize the contribution of the private sector.
The UK government has already committed over £62 million (US$82 million) towards the immediate relief effort, and has delivered or procured nearly 180 tonnes of aid for the region.
It also established a UK Joint Task Force, led by DFID’s Chris Austin, in the immediate aftermath of the hurricanes, to deal with the humanitarian crisis on the ground and the initial relief effort, as well as to carry out assessments to identify both short and longer term needs.
The focus of the private sector task force will specifically be the long-term reconstruction on the affected islands.
“No small island can reasonably be expected to recover and rebuild from a catastrophic disaster that undermines their entire economy, without international support,” Ms. Patel said.
“They need businesses to step up. The private sector is key to reviving the region’s economies and must play a central role in the reconstruction of these islands, helping them to build back better,” she added.
The UK official, who visited British Virgin Islands and Anguilla last month, explained that the longer-term reconstruction, involves working with the affected islands to build back better and more resilient hospitals, schools and other public services like water and power, on which people survive.
“We need to reduce the future potential impact on public services and livelihoods of any future disasters. Investing in preparedness makes good financial sense: each pound saves two pounds of aid,” Patel said.
The UK-led Centre for Global Disaster Protection in London, will offer all the hurricane-hit countries and territories support and advice on disaster risk financing and insurance, to ensure that they are better prepared to cope with any future hurricanes. The centre will also offer advice on building more resilient infrastructure.
The DFID will work with experts to ensure new buildings and systems are more resilient, efficient and use more renewable energy options. This will include more than 12 major climate resilient infrastructure projects; at least 50 strengthened health facilities, and geo-thermal energy development, where the potential exists.
The UK has already donated millions of dollars and much needed aid to several Caribbean countries hit by hurricanes, including Dominica which is struggling to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria’s direct hit last month.