Morgan Stanley profit jumps
Morgan Stanley profits rose sharply in the first quarter as the Wall Street giant became the latest bank to see growth in the period.
The US firm reported profits up 74% to $1.84bn (£1.4bn) for the three months against the same quarter last year.
The gain came as investment banking and bond trading revenues jumped, and the bank was able to set aside less money for credit losses.
The growth also reflected a rebound from 2016's rocky start.
"We reported one of our strongest quarters in recent years," chief executive James Gorman said.
"All our businesses performed well in improved market conditions. We are confident in our business model and the opportunities ahead, while recognizing that the environment remains uncertain."
Morgan Stanley's profits and revenue growth beat analysts' forecasts. On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America also reported quarterly growth, although there was some disappointment that the figures were not higher.
Total revenue at Morgan Stanley increased 25% from the same period in 2016, reaching $9.7bn.
Trading revenue rose 57% to $3.2bn, amid a surge in the fixed-income unit.
The $1.7bn in fixed income trading revenue marked the best quarter in two years and the fourth quarter in a row that Morgan Stanley hit its $1 billion target for bond trading revenue.
"This is quite a number for a company that just two years ago was setting a billion dollars a quarter as an aspirational goal, and it stands in sharp relief to Goldman's air ball yesterday," Oppenheimer analyst Chris Kotowski said in a note to clients.
Source-
Facebook shares brain-control ideas
Facebook says it is working on technology to allow us to control computers directly with our brains.
It is developing “silent speech” software to allow people to type at a rate of 100 words per minute, it says.
The project, in its early stages, will require new technology to detect brainwaves without needing invasive surgery.
"We are not talking about decoding your random thoughts,” assured Facebook's Regina Dugan.
"You have many thoughts, you choose to share some of them.
"We’re talking about decoding those words. A silent speech interface - one with all the speed and flexibility of voice."
Ms Dugan is the company’s head of Building 8, the firm’s hardware research lab. The company said it intends to build both the hardware and software to achieve its goal, and has enlisted a team of more than 60 scientists and academics to work on the project.
On his Facebook page, Mark Zuckerberg added: "Our brains produce enough data to stream four HD movies every second.
"The problem is that the best way we have to get information out into the world - speech - can only transmit about the same amount of data as a 1980s modem.
"We're working on a system that will let you type straight from your brain about five times faster than you can type on your phone today.
"Eventually, we want to turn it into a wearable technology that can be manufactured at scale. Even a simple yes/no 'brain click' would help make things like augmented reality feel much more natural.
"Technology is going to have to get a lot more advanced before we can share a pure thought or feeling, but this is a first step."
Other ideas detailed at the company’s developers conference in San Jose included work to allow people to “hear” through skin. The system, comparable to Braille, uses pressure points on the skin to relay information.
“One day, not so far away, it may be possible for me to think in Mandarin, and you to feel it instantly in Spanish,” Ms Dugan said.
With these announcements, Facebook is envisioning technology that is far in advance of anything currently possible. To achieve sophisticated brain control with today's technology requires the implanting of a computer chip into the brain, something Ms Dugan joked "simply won't scale".
There are already external brain-control technologies on the market, but these are simplistic in comparison. Electroencephalogram tech - known as EEG - can monitor electric impulses in the brain, but only for very basic, structured output - such as moving a dot up or down a computer screen.
"We'll need new, non-invasive sensors that can measure brain activity hundreds of times per second," Facebook said in a statement.
"From locations precise to millimetres and without signal distortions. Today there is no non-invasive imaging method that can do this."
Source- BBC
World number two's pregnancy is confirmed
World number two Serena Williams is pregnant and due in the autumn, her representative has confirmed.
The 35-year-old earlier posted a picture of herself on Snapchat posing in a mirror with the message: "20 weeks" before deleting the post.
The American, who won an Open-era record 23rd Grand Slam in Australia in January, is almost certain to miss the rest of the season.
This includes three Grand Slams - the French Open, Wimbledon and US Open.
Williams, who will return to world number one next week, would be eligible to retain her ranking under the WTA special ranking rule if she is ready to play her first tournament within 12 months of giving birth.
US Open Tennis responded to Williams' message by saying: "Serena Williams will have a new pride and joy to hug and call her own soon! Congratulations on the exciting baby announcement!"
General election campaigning begins in UK
Campaigning is under way after the House of Commons backed Theresa May's call for a general election on 8 June.
MPs voted by 522 votes to 13 - with Labour and Lib Dem helping secure the two-thirds majority needed to bring forward the election from 2020.
The prime minister urged voters to give her "the mandate to speak for Britain and to deliver for Britain".
Jeremy Corbyn said a Labour government would stop Mrs May from using Brexit to make the UK an "offshore tax haven".
Speaking in Croydon on his first campaign stop, the Labour leader said if elected, he would raise the minimum wage to £10 an hour and increase spending on the NHS, social care and council housing.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister is hoping to significantly boost her current Commons majority of 17 to increase her authority, ahead of 18 months of talks which will determine the manner of the UK's exit from the EU.
Mrs May, who became PM last July after the EU referendum, told MPs that it would wrong for the UK to find itself reaching the most "difficult and sensitive" phase of Brexit negotiations in late 2018 and early 2019 at a time when a general election was "looming on the horizon".
During a special Commons debate, she said it was the "right and responsible" thing to do hold the election now to help the UK prepare for life outside the EU.
Source-BBC
Fox Ends Ties with Bill O'Reilly
Twenty-First Century Fox has decided to part ways with star cable news host Bill O'Reilly following allegations of sexual harassment, the company said Wednesday.
"After a thorough and careful review of the allegations, the company and Bill O'Reilly have agreed that Bill O'Reilly will not be returning to the Fox News Channel," the company said in a statement.
O'Reilly said in an April 1 statement that he had been unfairly targeted because of his public prominence. Marc Kasowitz, O'Reilly's lawyer, said in a statement Tuesday that the television host "has been subjected to a brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America."
It is not known exactly how Fox News will handle O'Reilly's exit or whether he would be allowed to say goodbye to viewers on the air, according to a New York magazine report.
Source-VOA
Colombia Landslide, 20 Missing
At least 11 people were killed and 20 are missing after a landslide hit several neighborhoods in Manizales, Colombia, the government said on Wednesday, the second deadly landslide in the country this month.
Recent heavy rains have endangered residents in dozens of provincial towns, where makeshift construction on the slopes of the Andes makes neighborhoods particularly susceptible to landslides and flooding.
The landslide in Manizales, capital of Caldas province west of Bogota, followed a similar disaster in Mocoa, Putumayo earlier this month that killed more than 320 people and displaced thousands from their homes.
"The situation in Manizales is very worrying. The toll is sad, there are eleven people dead," Transport Minister Jorge Eduardo Rojas said after meeting with the province's governor and the mayor of the city.
Nine people were injured and at least 57 houses have been affected, the government said. Local media reported that Manizales received a month's average rainfall just overnight. President Juan Manuel Santos said in a Twitter post that he was trying to get to the scene, but was delayed by continuing
bad weather.
Colombia's deadliest landslide, the 1985 Armero disaster, killed more than 20,000.
Source-VOA
interCaribbean Airways introduces new Providenciales -Tortola Flights.
interCaribbean Airways is pleased to introduce a new way to Tortola every Wednesday and Saturday, Tortola from Providenciales. Beginning May 3, these new same plane flights will fly to Tortola via Santo Domingo. (no deplaning required). This new service is designed especially for Caribbean Passport holders (without a USA Visa) to be able to visit BVI, bypassing San Juan or St Thomas as the USA points of entry..
The service with a 30 seater Embraer 120 aircraft commences on May 3, 2017 and adds to interCaribbean' current nonstop flights from Beef Island to both San Juan and Antigua giving increased connectivity for Tortola to Santo Domingo.
The initial schedule will operate as follows.
Schedule
Flight No From To Eff Till Days Stops Dep Arr
JY233/411 PLS EIS 01-May-17 04-Nov-17 Wed Sat 1 12:00 3:15
JY410/234 EIS PLS 01-May-17 04-Nov-17 Wed Sat 1 12:00 3:15
EIS = Tortola, PLS = Providenciales
Trevor Sadler, interCaribbean Chief Executive Officer said "Tortola is a great destination covering a wide range of tourist possibilities, especially for sailing, with quite possibly the largest sailing fleet world-wide. The BVI offers unique Islands, fabulous boutique resorts and exclusive villas. We are happy to be adding another destination to Tortola and removing the obstacles of a Turks & Caicos Passport Holder in visiting the BVI. Also for the BVI citizen the ability to now easily visit friends and family in the Turks & Caicos Islands has become so much easier.
'Accountability and transparency'-Governor emphasises need for proper review of statutory bodies
GOVERNOR John Freeman has stressed the need for bonafide evaluations of statutory bodies in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Governor in a release issued on Wednesday (April 5) highlighted the need for more transparency and accountability as it relates to the function of statutory boards.
This comes as a recent report on the management of the National Health Insurance Board (NHIB) was submitted to Cabinet by the Chief Internal Auditor.
The Governor said: "In December 2016 I commissioned the Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) to conduct a review of the management of the NHIB in light of the serious issues involving significant liabilities that had arisen earlier that month.
"The report by the CIA has since been considered in Cabinet, most recently following receipt of responses from the NHIB."
Governor Freeman asserted that the report serves as a reminder of the important responsibilities placed on the boards of statutory bodies.
He said that responsibilities are especially weighty on boards such as the NHIB, where they are responsible for very significant financial resources with contingent liabilities for the public finances.
He disclosed: "TCIG transfers over $45 million each financial year to the NHIB in respect of payment of the TCI Hospitals infrastructure costs, the Treatment Abroad Programme and Contributions for Wards of the State.
"This accounts for a significant proportion of TCIG's overall expenditure costs and along with the contributions of residents across TCI requires prudent management and accountability."
Governor Freeman propounded that given the considerable financial impact statutory bodies can have on the TCIG budget, it is crucial that CEOs and senior management recognise their responsibilities in adequately providing oversight and management over these entities.
He noted that: "Board members must be prepared to carry out the required governance and performance monitoring activities needed to ensure effective management of these entities.
"By extension, CEOs and other senior management officers must be prepared to be held accountable for management shortcomings.
"The object lessons from the NHIB are particularly acute: it is not beyond the realm of possibility – as I have illustrated – that serious mismanagement of the NHIB or of certain other boards could cause a serious run upon the budgetary resources of TCI."
The Governor further noted that the need to address the issues raised as it relates to the NHIB is evident and is now being taken forward.
He said: "But I believe they also reinforce the need for a proper review of the statutory bodies, especially of those which carry the largest risks, managerial and financial but also reputational for TCI.
"The Premier and I are committed to setting such a wider review in train as soon as possible."
In December 2016, news broke that funds have been misappropriated at the NHIB.
Then PDM while in opposition had accused the PNP Government of covering up the state of finances of the NHIB, which was said to be in dire need of a financial bailout.
Cabinet statements indicated that the NHIB was hemorrhaging financially.
At that time, Leader of the PDM, Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson slammed the former Government for being negligent in relation to the financial affairs of the National Health Insurance scheme.
$60 million budgeted for local projects
LOCAL contractors are being strongly encouraged to take advantage of the opportunities being offered under the 2017/2018 budget that was tabled in the House of Assembly on Monday (April 3).
The Premier, her ministers of Government and other PDM elected House members on Tuesday celebrated 100 days in office, highlighting their accomplishments and plans for the country going forward.
One of the significant initiatives is that of encouraging local contractors to position themselves to take advantage to some earn money through the whopping $60 million allocated for projects across the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Premier, however, acknowledged that her Government needs to do something to assist these local contractors in successfully bidding for projects.
She told the press: "I will meet with local contractors and I would try as much as possible to encourage them to be a part of the training because one of the challenges have been is that a number of our persons who have bid were not successful in their bids because they were not properly prepared.
"So we want to make sure that our people have a fair opportunity, and this comes with an investment on their part to be available or make themselves available for the training that will be coupled with the meeting I would have."
She further promised to announce the dates for these proposed meetings with contractors in a few days.
The training will focus primarily on the tendering and bidding process.
Over the past several years the past administration has been having major issues with local projects not being awarded, bid for, and as result not getting off the ground.
However, the PDM Government has promised a new course going forward, one which will hopefully see the majority, if not all of the budgeted projects being completed.
Students to compete in second annual Long Bay High School pageant
NINE young women will compete in the Long Bay High School's second annual pageant at the Tropicana Show Club in Providenciales on May 26 at 6.30pm.
Kavanna Hanna will represent Parrot Cay, Celine Fredric will represent Grand Turk, Laura Walkin will represent Salt Cay, D'asia Saunders will represent West Caicos, Alisia Williams will represent Middle Caicos, Tashly Belthius Will represent East Caicos, Quinique Cartwright will represent Providenciales, Audrea Stubbs will represent North Caicos and Erika Pinales representing South Caicos.
The pageant, which is centred on providing the students with personal development, grooming and giving them general exposure, will be celebrating the theme 'Old Hollywood Glam'.
Pageant coordinator Tiffany Ivey said in an interview that the event helps pupils to build their self-esteem and encourages them to embrace their talents and their individualities.
She said: "The pageant is really geared at promoting and exposure for the young ladies' personal development and growth.
"Basically we want them to be aware of themselves and to garn and relish experiences for promoting personal growth for themselves."
The ladies will be competing in the areas of Best Evening Gown, Best Talent and Best National Dress.
Contestant Stubbs said that if she won the title of Ms Long Bay High, she would use this as a platform to encourage students to believe in themselves and to work together as one.
Cartwright said that if she won she would promote equality and self-acceptance.
Last year Jamika Prosper and Keanu Williams had the most votes for best overall female and male contestants, so were crowned Mr and Ms Long Bay High School 2016-2017.
Long Bay High School opened its doors in 2015 for the 2015 to 2016 academic year.
Located in the Long Bay Hills area, the Long Bay High School as it is named, is a fully functional high school separate and apart from the Clement Howell High School.