Strong quake strikes Chile, tsunami alert issued
A strong 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the center of Chile on Wednesday, local seismologists said, triggering a tsunami alert, sparking panic and shaking buildings.
The quake had a shallow depth of 11 kilometers (six miles) and hit at 7:54 pm (2254 GMT), with the epicenter located about 500 kilometres north of the capital Santiago, seismologists at the University of Chile said.
Source-AFP
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO LAUNCHES ECO-TRAILS INITIATIVE
The dual-island nation of Trinidad & Tobago continues to blaze a pioneering trail of eco-tourism with the development and recent unveiling of the Eco-Adventure Trails Project. Officially launched on Saturday, August 22 by Trinidad & Tobago’s Ministry of Tourism, Phase 1 of the project encompasses over five and a half miles of scenic trails stretching from Grande Rivière to Sans Souci on the Northeast coast of Trinidad.
Shaded by the forest canopy and bordered by lush foliage, cool springs, and spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean, the Grande Rivière to Sans Souci trail is part of a wider project to rehabilitate over 600 miles of existing trails throughout the destination over a five-year period. These rehabilitated trails follow ancient pathways that were once traversed by Trinidad & Tobago’s First Peoples, the indigenous Amerindians of the islands.
In addition to a walk through the island’s history, the trails project will also offer locals and visitors an extensive range of eco-adventure and leisure experiences including: zip lining; biking; bird watching; sea bathing and nature photography.
Managed by Trinidad & Tobago Tourism Development Company Limited (TDC), the project is being implemented by the Trinidad & Tobago In-Coming Tour Operators’ Association. The nature trails project is just one of several initiatives being undertaken to improve the quality of Trinidad & Tobago’s tourism product and attract international visitors who appreciate authentic eco-experiences.
LIAT returns to Dominica
LIAT, The Caribbean Airline, announces the resumption of flights to and from the Douglas-Charles Airport in Dominica starting Friday September 18.
LIAT was forced to suspend services to Dominica on August 27 due to the passage of Tropical Storm Erika which resulted in severe damage to the island and closure of the Douglas-Charles Airport.
Chief Executive Officer David Evans applauded the Government and People of Dominica for their resilience over the last several weeks citing their tireless efforts to get the country back to a state of normalcy following the storm.
"We are extremely happy to be returning to Dominica," Mr. Evans said, noting that "this would not have been possible without the spirit of community and resilience for which Dominica is well known".
LIAT will operate one flight to Dominica on Friday September 18; increasing to two daily flights from Saturday September 19.
All night flights into and out of Dominica remain suspended until further notice.
LIAT, The Caribbean Airline, operates a modern fleet of ATR 42 and ATR 72 aircraft across a regional network of 17 destinations. It is owned by regional shareholders, with the majority being the Governments of Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
Syria's Assad 'won't quit under pressure'
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said in an interview for Russian TV he will not quit under foreign pressure, saying the Syrian people must decide.
Western powers and much of the Syrian opposition say it is not conceivable for Mr Assad to lead a post-war Syria.
Mr Assad said Iran was supporting his government "politically, economically and militarily" but denied that Iranian ground forces had been sent.
The latest comments come as Russia increases its presence in Syria.
Mr Assad said that the president "comes to power with the people's assent through elections, and if he leaves, he leaves if the people demand it".
Mr Assad was re-elected in 2014 with 88.7% of the vote. However, the election only took place in government-held areas and the opposition said the vote had no credibility in the midst of a civil war.
Source-BBC
US retail sales rose 0.2% in August
US retail sales rose 0.2% in August, helped by spending on cars, restaurant meals, groceries and clothing, the US Commerce Department has said.
Core sales - which strip out spending on cars, petrol, building materials and restaurants - rose 0.4%.
But separately, factory production slipped in August, falling a sharper than expected 0.5%.
The Federal Reserve has a mixed picture of the US economy ahead of a rate-setting meeting later this week.
Manufacturing output fell last month as car production jammed on the brakes, after a rise of 0.9% in July. Excluding cars, factory output was unchanged.
The US manufacturing sector has been struggling, faced with a strong dollar and slack oversees economies.
A drop in mining production combined with the drop in factory output left overall industrial production down 0.4% during the month.
But retail sales figures, boosted by rising employment, suggest that a recent stock market sell-off had little impact on consumer spending.
"Today's data are positive news for final demand in the third quarter and should give the Fed more confidence in the spending outlook," said Laura Rosner, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
Car dealers and restaurants have especially reaped the benefits of around 2.9 million jobs being added to the economy over the past year.
Sales at car dealers and parts shops have risen 5.7% during the past 12 months, as many people in the US are replacing their older vehicles.
Nearly a fifth of all retail sales tracked by the government come from the car industry.
Purchases at restaurants and bars increased 0.7% in August and have soared 8.2% this year.
Around 372,000 workers have been taken on in the sector over the past year to satisfy demand.
Sales also improved last month at grocers, clothes shops, sports stores and online retailers.
On Wednesday and Thursday the Federal Reserve will meet to decide whether to raise interest rates from near zero.
There is never a risk-free time to raise interest rates, BBC economics editor Robert Peston said.
"In the opaque globalised financial world, they [the Fed] know that all sorts of bubbles and market distortions have been created and pumped up by the steroids of super-cheap dollar debt - but they can't be certain of the scale or even the precise location of these unhealthy imbalances," he said.
Source-Auto News
QUALITY SUPER KINGS SHOCK MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC
The Turks and Caicos Islands Cricket Association Summer T20 Cricket League Tournament sponsored by HAB Group, continued on Sunday; 13th September 2015 at The Downtown Ball Park, Providenciales.
Quality Super Kings called correctly and totaled a mountainous 221 runs for the loss of 3 wickets from the allotted 20 overs. Nuwan Bodhinayke the flamboyant left hander and National Wicket Keeper led the way with an unbeaten 140 runs.
He plundered the bowling to all parts of the boundary blasting 14 shots to the boundary and 11 over. In the past, he had scores of 130, 147 and 150 in T20 matches. He was supported by Naga Kuthalingam with 28 runs, 3x4, and 1x6. Thereby enabling Quality Super Kings to advance to the finals.
Bowling for Mitsubishi Electric, Marlon Graham and Dax Bruton took 1 wicket each.
In their chase Mitsubishi Electric were limited to 158 runs for 8 wickets in their 20 overs. Dane Ritchie top scored with 47 runs which consisted of 6x4 and Gareth Butler added 44 runs, 6x4.
Bowling for Quality Super Kings, Robert Johnson captured 3 wickets for 20 runs from 4 overs.
Player of the match: Nuwan Bodhinayke.
Meanwhile, the Police will tackle Kischo in the semifinals on Sunday 20th September at the Downtown Ball Park.
World Bank warns on US rate rise
The World Bank has warned developing countries to brace themselves for possible financial turbulence when the US Federal Reserve starts to raise interest rates.
It could come as early as Thursday when the Fed concludes a policy meeting.
A new report from the World Bank says there will probably be a modest impact on developing countries.
But it also warns there is some risk that it could be worse.
The Bank says it is possible that there would be sufficient disruption to capital flows into developing countries to harm economic growth and financial stability.
US interest rates have been practically zero for more than six years and as the economy continues to recover, the Fed is sure to raise interest rates at some stage. The prospect has been a major concern for financial markets all year.
Developing countries are bound to be affected when it happens and the first step might be imminent.
The new World Bank report gives a number of reasons why developing nations should be able to cope without a great deal of fallout. Notably, the rate rise has been anticipated for a long time and it is likely to be a gradual process. Rates will not be raised rapidly.
And it will take place in the context of a robust US economy. After all, if the US weren't in reasonable health, the Fed wouldn't even be considering a rate rise, and strong US performance is generally good news for the rest of the world.
That said, there are risks of what the report calls a "perfect storm".
Some developing countries are vulnerable. The report doesn't point the the finger, but Turkey, Brazil and Venezuela are almost certainly among them.
The risks for countries include government and private sector debt, especially if it is in a foreign currency, and a large deficit in international trade, which has to be financed by borrowing from abroad. Weaker economic growth is also a factor, and Brazil has seen a marked deterioration.
Source- BBC
Canadian company to develop medicinal products from J’can marijuana
CANADA-BASED Timeless Herbal Care Limited (THC) announced Saturday it has secured a US$100-million deal to develop medical marijuana products here in Jamaica for the international market.
Courtney Betty, the Jamaican- Canadian who heads THC, did not go into great detail, but said the deal would create job opportunities for many Jamaicans. He said the deal was buttressed by the decision of the Jamaican Government to decriminalise ganja for medicinal purposes.
Betty used the opportunity in a speech at the Association of Consultants and Physicians of Jamaica (ACPJ) Reception and Banquet, held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in New Kingston, to urge physicians and private sector businesses to get on board with medical marijuana treatment, saying Jamaica was destined to become a hub for investment in medical marijuana.
“This is not about smoking marijuana, but it is about developing medical products that will be able to help patients,” said the president and CEO of Timeless Herbal Care, a nutraceutical pharmaceutical company that produces medical marijuana products.
“It really is about private corporations and businesses, and our expectation is that there will be many companies that will start coming to Jamaica looking to invest because of the tremendous intellectual property and resources that sit here at the University of the West Indies.” A high point of the ACPJ banquet was the honouring of its past president and consultant neurologist Dr Amza Ali and Dr Hafeezul Mohammed, outstanding cardiologist, internist and consultant physician.
Dr Ali was trained in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, and is specially certified in neurology by the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom and the Association of British Neurologists.
He also completed a clinical fellowship in epilepsy at the Neurological Institute, Columbia University in New York and is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians of London.
“Being honoured by one’s peers is an amazing thing. It gives you a sense of validation that can’t come from anything else, because it means other people that you respect, respect what you are doing,” Dr Ali said in his response.
In 2009, the American Academy of Neurology selected him for the Donald M Palatucci Advocacy Leadership Forum for his extensive work in the field of epilepsy. In June 2011, he delivered the prestigious annual Swebelius Lecture at Yale University in recognition of his work in this field.
“Moving forward, this will be an inspiration for me: It will give me even more energy to move forward and to do even more things for the people I care so much for in this country” said Dr Ali.
Dr Mohammed, who has studied at McGill University, Canada, the University of the West Indies, and the Royal Postgraduate Medical School of London, said: “I am delighted to receive this honour from the Association of Consultant Physicians of Jamaica, and this inspires me to continue to provide service to the people of Jamaica and to improve our health care.”
'Dislike' button coming to Facebook
More than 30 people were charged -- including some with criminal homicide -- in connection with the death of Chun "Michael" Deng, 19, a Baruch College student who died after a hazing incident in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. Five people and Pi Delta Psi Fraternity Inc. were charged with criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, hindering appreheFacebook is to add a "dislike" button to its social network, founder Mark Zuckerberg has said.
In a Q+A session held at Facebook's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, the 31-year-old said the button would be a way for people to express empathy.
He said Facebook was "very close" to having it ready for user testing.
A "dislike" button has been constantly requested by some users since the introduction of the now-iconic "like" button in 2009.
"People have asked about the 'dislike' button for many years," Mr Zuckerberg told the audience on Tuesday.
"Probably hundreds of people have asked about this, and today is a special day because today is the day that I actually get to say we are working on it, and are very close to shipping a test of it."
However he went on to say he did not want it to be a mechanism with which people could "down vote" others' posts.
Instead, it will be for times when clicking "like" on "sad" posts felt insensitive.
Prof Andrea Forte, an expert in social and participatory media at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said users will not suddenly turn on each other's posts.
In an email, she wrote: "They may use a dislike button to express some negative emotions (like frustration with ads popping up in their feeds) but I doubt it will cause them to start wantonly disliking pictures of their friends' babies, dogs, cats and cooking experiments.
"I suspect it will mainly be used to express mild disapproval, or to express solidarity when someone posts about a negative event like a death or a loss."
Five Charged with Criminal Homicide in Hazing Death of Baruch College Student
More than 30 people were charged -- including some with criminal homicide -- in connection with the death of Chun "Michael" Deng, 19, a Baruch College student who died after a hazing incident in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania.
Five people and Pi Delta Psi Fraternity Inc. were charged with criminal homicide, involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, simple assault, hindering apprehension, hazing and criminal conspiracy, the Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department said Monday. Twenty-seven people were charged with hindering apprehension, hazing and criminal conspiracy, police said.
Three people were charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, hindering apprehension, hazing and criminal conspiracy, and two people were charged with simple assault, hindering apprehension, hazing and criminal conspiracy, police said.Authorities say members of the Pi Delta Psi fraternity at the New York City-based college pushed Deng during a December 2013 hazing ritual while on a retreat in the Poconos, where he was blindfolded and wearing a backpack filled with 20 pounds of sand.
At one point he fell over and hit his head, police said. After Deng lost consciousness, other fraternity members brought him into the house, but they never called 911 for help, police said. Instead they put him near the fire, changed his clothes and searched the Internet for information about his symptoms, police added.
After two hours, Deng was taken to a local hospital by three of the fraternity members, where he later died.
Source-ABC