CDB launches Youth Resilience and Inclusive Social Empowerment project
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), and the Government of Belize have launched the Youth Resilience and Inclusive Social Empowerment (Youth RISE) Project. The Project will expand social services for approximately 3,500 children, youth and families in the communities of Dangriga and San Ignacio/Santa Elena, Belize.
In Dangriga and San Ignacio/Santa Elena, youth face many socio-economic challenges, including the low attainment of educational qualifications, and increasing crime and violence. The Youth RISE Project aims to expand access and coverage of existing social programs, as well as introduce pilot programs to tackle these challenges. Young people who live in these communities will benefit from training that will focus on basic literacy and numeracy and employability skills; adaptive life skills; along with community programs which focus on social skills.
Dr. Idamay Denny, Portfolio Manager, Social Sector Division, CDB, said the Project will address a number of the risk factors for crime and violence, as well as deviant and anti-social behaviors that are affecting youth and families in these Districts, with particular emphasis on San Ignacio/Santa Elena and Dangriga.
“Our youth represent the future of this Region and an investment in them represents an investment in the quality of life our countries will experience in the future,” Denny said..
The Project will be implemented by Belize’s Ministry of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation (MOHD), through the Community Rehabilitation Department (CRD) and partner agencies namely: Delille Academy, Progressive Organization of Women in Action (POWA), Belize Family Life Association (BFLA), Community Policing Unit, Department of Youth Services, Cornerstone Foundation and St. Ignatius High School.
According to Minister of Human Development, Social Transformation and Poverty Alleviation, Anthony Martinez , “The Youth RISE project is an investment in the children, youth and families of the targeted municipalities. An investment to improve life chances, to transform lives, to help individuals to RISE above adversities and achieve success.”
CDB is providing funding for the project through a grant of US$750,000, and a loan of US$984,000. Counterpart funding of US$633,000 is being provided by the Government of Belize.
The Youth RISE project is an expansion of the Youth and Community Transformation (YCT) Project, which was designed to secure the well-being and reduce the vulnerability of children and youth in poor communities in Belize City. The YCT project is also financed by CDB.
Grenadians told to brace for several more eruptions
The National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) has told Grenadians that they should expect more eruptions of the underwater volcano, Kick em' Jenny as it reported “increased activities” on Wednesday.In its latest advisory bulletin, NaDMA said it continues to collaborate with the Seismic Research Centre (SRC) of the St Augustine campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) to monitor activities at the underwater volcano that became active over the last weekend.
“Volcanic episodes at Kick em' Jenny, since 1939, usually consist of several eruptions lasting over several days before returning to repose; therefore, further eruptions should be expected in this episode,” the NaDMA said, adding “there have also been a number of felt reports.
“It would be useful for those in coastal areas to be on the lookout for unusual material that might be ejected from last evening's eruption. SRC will continue to monitor and update as activity warrants.”
NaDMA said that the alert level remains at YELLOW and that vessels should observe a 1.5 km/0.93 mile exclusion zone.
“However, as a precautionary measure, the marine community is advised to continue observing the 5 km/3.1 mile exclusion zone. The SRC has advised that heightened alert is necessary for the exclusion zone,” the NaDMA said, reminding citizens that it will be the only agency issuing official advisories on this matter.
It also urged the general public to be responsible about the use of social media on the matter.
Source-CMC
Trump Celebrates House Passage of Obamacare Replacement
President Donald Trump on Thursday declared Obamacare "essentially dead" after the House of Representatives narrowly passed a Republican-crafted health care replacement.
Trump celebrated the bill's approval in the White House Rose Garden, surrounded by many of the Republicans who voted to repeal and replace Obama's Affordable Care Act.
"They're doing it for the country, not for the party," Trump said of his fellow Republicans.
He said he wanted to "brag about the plan," which he called "so very, very incredibly well-crafted."
The president said he was confident the Senate would also pass it, calling Obamacare a "catastrophe."
The new American Health Care Act was approved 217-213. Every Democrat voted no, along with 20 Republicans.
It was passed without any congressional hearings or a nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office assessment of how much the bill would cost.
The major difference between Obamacare and the new bill is coverage for pre-existing conditions.
Obamacare barred insurance companies from charging customers more because of such illnesses. Under the new bill, states would have the choice of opting out of that condition.
Critics say people who are sick through no fault of their own may no longer be able to afford health insurance.
The new bill also cancels the Obamacare requirement that everyone carry insurance or pay a penalty.
Trump had made replacing Obamacare a keystone of his presidential campaign. He called President Barack Obama's signature achievement too expensive and full of government intrusion.
Source-VOA
Kenya Election Plans Include Dispute Resolution
Logistical challenges and disputes during Kenya's primaries last month have raised concerns about the nationwide polls in August and how best to avoid a repeat of the deadly post-election violence in 2007.
When poll results are contested, the final decision often lies with the courts.
"Electoral cases cannot be treated in the same way as other matters that come before the courts, because of their inherent political sensitivity, the high public interest in their outcomes, the intense bursts in which electoral petitions are filed and the short time limits within which they have to be dispensed," said Irene Khan, the director general of the International Development Law Organization.
The IDLO, along with Kenya's judiciary, released recommendations ahead of the August elections, in which Kenyans will be voting in local, parliamentary, gubernatorial and presidential races.
Political tensions have been climbing since last year over the organization of the upcoming polls, and fears of violence have been climbing as well. Disputes over the results of the 2007 election killed more than 1,000 people.
But Khan says there is reason to be optimistic this year.
"In an environment marked by ethnic tension and low public trust in political institutions that had triggered the post-election violence in 2007, the successful management of election petitions by the Kenyan judiciary was one of several key factors responsible for the relatively peaceful elections and transfer of power here in this country in 2013," she said.
The report says 188 petitions were filed in 2013 challenging the results of those polls, but the courts managed to finalize all the disputes within the mandated six-month period.
The judiciary is prepared for issues that may arise in August, Keriako Tobiko, Kenya's Director of Public Prosecutions, said in a statement.
"The Director of Public Prosecutions has put in place measures to deal with electoral offenses which include the constitution of a team of 105 prosecutors to be active in electoral offenses" according to the statement. "They have been trained and they are spread all over the country in all the 47 counties and 120 court stations. The Director of Public Prosecution again has put in place a 24-hour call center that is manned by prosecutors, and this call center is also a secretariat that acts as a rapid response team to all electoral offenses."
The IDLO says a strong dispute-resolution system is key to avoiding violence and ensuring the legitimacy of results, but voters must understand the system.
"Electoral justice should not be restricted to elites or well-resourced petitioners," Khan said, "but must be made available to all those who feel disenfranchised and excluded. And here the judiciary plays an important role in its public outreach activities, to inform and to engage."
However, lack of faith in the independence of the judiciary remains a challenge, according to skeptics.
Venezuelans Takes to the Streets as Death Toll Jumps to 36
Students held demonstrations across Caracas Thursday as a two-month-old protest movement that shows no signs of letting up claimed more lives.
At the Central University of Venezuela, soldiers bathed hundreds of student protesters in tear gas. Many of the protesters stayed put, and medics in gas masks attended to others with bloodied faces and limbs.
Students from another university marched peacefully to deliver a petition to the office of the country's Catholic bishops, asking the pope to speak out against the violence, and the government's steps toward authoritarianism.
A police officer died of his injures Thursday after being shot during a Wednesday protest that had hundreds of thousands of people on the street nationwide. A 17-year-old was also killed during the day's protests.
The death of the 38 year-old officer in the central state of Carabobo means three dozen people have now died in the month of protests. Hundreds also have been wounded — no small matter in a country with crippling medical shortages. And more than 1,000 have been arrested.
Protesters are demanding immediate presidential elections. President Nicolas Maduro accuses the opposition of attempting a coup, and has responded with an initiative to rewrite the constitution.
Source-VOA
Haiti to rebuild National Palace toppled in 2010 quake
President Jovenel Moise launched Wednesday a project to rebuild Haiti's National Palace, a symbol of national pride destroyed by the cataclysmic 2010 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people.
"My administration wants to offer the young generation the opportunity to make its mark on the country's history and to inscribe in stone its vision of a new Haiti," Moise declared from the temporary presidential residence, located on the grounds of the palace.
The new president, two months in office, pointed to the iconic building's beloved place in the heart of Haitians.
"For many, the post-earthquake reconstruction has not begun as long as the National Palace has not been rebuilt," he said.
Moise called for the rebuilding of the palace on the same site as the National Palace, in the heart of the capital, making it a "monument that symbolizes the dignity and the pride of the Haitian people."
Moise's administration has decided that the facade of the new building will look the same, but the interior will be adapted to the needs of a modern presidency.
The entire building will be constructed to withstand a natural disaster.
The National Palace, like the majority of public buildings, was severely damaged by the magnitude 7 earthquake that rocked the capital Port-au-Prince and its surroundings on January 12, 2010.
Pictures of the huge, toppled building, with its white domes collapsed onto the neoclassical columns, were seen around the world, symbolizing the scale of the disaster suffered by the poorest country in the Americas.
In 2012, the decision to demolish the National Palace was controversial and a further hit to national pride because it was done, for free, by Hollywood actor Sean Penn's nonprofit organization.
As part of Moise's rebuilding launch, a committee of engineers and architects was set up Wednesday to plan the project, whose cost at this point is not estimated.
The president wants construction to begin before the end of the year.
The government's requests for proposals to choose the architects and companies involved have not yet been issued.
Source-AFP
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