CHTA EDUCATION FOUNDATION ACCEPTING SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS FROM TURKS & CAICOS
Turks & Caicos students and industry professionals are encouraged to apply for a scholarship from the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Education Foundation (CHTAEF) so they can pursue higher education or professional development in the tourism and hospitality field. Scholarships are awarded with support from CHTAEF sponsors including Virgin Holidays, Interval International, FirstCaribbean International Bank, Johnson & Wales University and Florida International University.
Scholarships are awarded for study at any approved college or university including, but not limited to, the University of West Indies and local community colleges throughout the Caribbean.
Scholarship recipients will be advised of their approval status and, if accepted, the amount of their award, no earlier than May 25, 2015.
"We encourage all of our hospitality students and professionals to apply for scholarships offered by the CHTA Education Foundation," said Stacy Cox. "The tourism industry is a vital economic resource for our country and these scholarships present an opportunity for motivated individuals to pursue higher education and career training regardless of financial need," she added.
Education and training are essential in order to be successful in any work field and through their scholarship program, CHTAEF is offering students and professionals financial assistance to pursue their careers in the hospitality and tourism industry,” said Richard S. Kahn, chairman of CHTAEF. "Since 1987, we have awarded approximately US$2 million in scholarships and grants to applicants and we have observed many successful scholarship recipients build exemplary careers in the tourism and hospitality industry," added Kahn.
In 2014, CHTAEF awarded US$136,308 in scholarships to 29 Caribbean nationals pursuing a higher education or professional development in hospitality and tourism after receiving more than 60 applications.
CHTAEF awards worthy Caribbean nationals who demonstrate a strong commitment to the hospitality and tourism industry with scholarship money to enhance or further their expertise. This includes academic tuition scholarships, short-course professional development tuition scholarships, work experience placement opportunities, and grants for tourism and hospitality teachers for furthering their education or to gain industry work experience.
Jay Z promotes 'artist-owned' music streaming brand
Some of the biggest names in entertainment have re-launched the music subscription service Tidal, which they are billing as the first artist-owned platform for music and video.
At an event in New York on Monday, Madonna, Beyonce, Kanye West, and 13 other performers announced they had become co-owners of Tidal.
The service launched last October, but was recently bought by rapper Jay Z.
It is hoping to compete with the likes of Spotify, Deezer and Google Play.
However Tidal offers 25 million music tracks, fewer than the 30 million offered by many rival services.
As well as a standard subscription for $9.99 a month, Tidal offers a "high fidelity" option for $19.99, which claims to deliver better sound quality.
Singer Alicia Keys spoke on behalf of the artists as they all lined up on stage at Skylight at Moynihan Station in Manhattan.
Describing the event as a "graduation", she said the artists hoped Tidal would alter musical evolution.
"So we come together before you on this day, March 30th, 2015, with one voice in unity in the hopes that today will be another one of those moments in time, a moment that will forever change the course of music history."
Their mission, she said, goes beyond commerce and technology.
"Our intent is to preserve music's importance in our lives,'' she said.
Source-BBC
Venus Williams beats Caroline Wozniacki at Miami Open
Venus Williams remains on course to meet sister Serena in the Miami Open final after upsetting world number five Caroline Wozniacki in the last 16.
The American beat her Danish opponent 6-3 7-6 (7-1) in 98 minutes.
The 34-year-old, who was out of action for seven months after being diagnosed with Sjogren's Syndrome in 2011, has now won seven of her past eight matches against top-10 ranked players.
Sister Serena beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals.
The 33-year-old will meet Sabine Lisicki in the last eight after the German beat Sara Errani 6-1 6-2.
Venus, meanwhile, faces Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro, who recovered from the loss of the opening set to beat Polish seventh seed Agnieszka Radwanska 5-7 6-0 6-4.
Source-BBC
Robin Williams' Wife and Children's Fight Over His Property in court
A legal battle between Robin Williams' widow and children over his estate is going to be taken to court. Attorneys for both parties are scheduled to appear before a San Francisco probate judge on Monday, March 30 to settle the matter, the Associated Press reports.
Back in December, the late actor's third wife Susan Schneider filed a lawsuit against Robin's three kids from previous marriages, Zak, Zelda and Cody, claiming that some property at the house where she lived with Williams were "unilaterally removed" from their house "days after Mr. Williams's untimely death."
In a response to Schneider's lawsuit, Williams' children said Susan's petition added "insult to a terrible injury" and was a premature attempt to change their father's instructions and "prevent them from receiving what their father wanted them to receive."
According to Williams' will, his children should inherit his memorabilia and awards in the entertainment industry among other particular personal items. However, Schneider argues that since he wanted her to continue to live at the Tiburon home, this could mean that his children are only entitled to property that he kept at another home he owned in Napa.
Williams died August 11, 2014 of asphyxia due to hanging. It was later revealed that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease and had been battling depression prior to committing suicide in his home in Tiburon.
Source-Aceshowbiz
Cuba wants more Internet access
Cuba wants to boost public Internet access while keeping the Communist government's control over it, a senior US official close to talks with Havana on technology said Monday.
"They are looking for mechanisms by which, in the first instance, they can expand connectivity while at the same time retaining their mechanism for market management, which is obviously vastly different than ours," said the State Department source.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned whether Cuba can meet United Nations goals of having 60 percent of the population of 11 million online, and having Internet service in 50 percent of homes by 2020 -- without allowing rival providers to enter the small market.
Private Internet connections in Cuba are strictly regulated by the Americas' lone one-party, Communist-ruled state. Only 3.4 percent of the population can connect from home, according to UN data.
Cuba "would not be the only market in the world with a single provider," the source noted.
Last week, a US delegation traveled to Cuba to follow up on re-establishing normal telecommunications links as part of the two countries' bid to normalize relations.
Source-AFP
IMF completes Jamaica’s seventh review, approves US$39-m disbursement
The Ministry of Finance and Planning announced in a statement today that Jamaica has successfully completed the seventh International Monetary Fund review, and is now eligible to receive a further US$39 million.
The review was completed today March 30, by the Executive Board of the IMF, who reviewed Jamaica’s economic performance under the programme supported by a four-year, SDR 615.38 million (about US$932 million at the time of approval) arrangement under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).
The EFF arrangement was approved on May 1, 2013.
The Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair, Mitsuhiro Furusawa, following the Board discussion of the review said, "The authorities’ commitment to the programme under the Extended Fund Facility remains strong. Programme performance is on track and all quantitative performance targets for end-December were met. Structural reforms have progressed broadly on schedule.”
“Macroeconomic performance continues to be good and economic confidence has reached a two-year peak. The decline in oil prices should help lower inflation expectations and boost demand. Still, stepping up the pace of reforms is essential to boost growth and employment. Bold efforts are needed to reform the energy sector, improve the business climate, and advance investment in critical infrastructure,” the acting chair continued.
“The budget for 2015/16 demonstrates Jamaica’s continued fiscal discipline and will help keep public debt on a sustainable path," he said. "Maintaining the momentum for fiscal consolidation over the medium term requires boosting revenue and improving public sector efficiency. This involves strengthening customs and tax administration and further broadening the tax base. It is also essential to improve public financial management, accelerate the reform of the public sector, and contain public sector wage costs.”
Furusawa added: “Buttressing the financial sector hinges on meeting the key milestones for reforming the retail repo sector. Completing the transition of the retail repo businesses to a trust-based framework requires careful management. Implementing the Banking Services Act will be a necessary step to improve financial sector stability further.”
Source-JamaicaObserver
Polish priest jailed for abusing boys in Dominican Republic
Wojciech Gil, a former priest convicted of abusing minors in the Dominican Republic and Poland, was sentenced to seven years in jail by a Polish court on Wednesday.
The court in Wolomin found Gil guilty of abusing six minors in the Dominican Republic between 2009 and 2013, as well as two in Poland in 2000 to 2001.
Possession of child pornography and illegal possession of a firearm were also included in the charges.
Gil, 37, could have faced up to 15 years behind bars if he was convicted following full court proceedings.
Instead, after initially pleading not guilty, the former priest sought a settlement and a seven-year prison term, which avoided a full trial. That was accepted by prosecutors, who represented the Dominican and the Polish victims.
Gil was also ordered to pay a total of 155,000 zlotys (about US$41,000) in atonement to the victims.
The former priest was defrocked last month at his own request.
Gil has been in custody since February last year, and the time he has spent in prison will be deducted from the sentence under Polish law.
His trial was conducted in Poland because that country has no extradition agreement with the Dominican Republic, making a trial there impossible.
It was not immediately clear how the verdict would be received in the Dominican Republic, where prosecutors revealed the case and requested a severe punishment.
Gil’s case is reportedly related to that of former Holy See ambassador to the Dominican Republic, former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.
The Vatican has defrocked Wesolowski – the harshest punishment under canon law – and is weighing whether to indict him on allegations that he paid Dominican boys to masturbate while he recorded them with his mobile phone.
A Polish investigation into his case is said to be stalled by a lack of evidence.
Wesolowski’s case attracted international attention, given that he was a papal nuncio, had been ordained both a priest and a bishop by St John Paul II, and was the highest-ranking Vatican official ever to have been accused of sex abuse.
Source- caribbean360
US Gives Iran Talks 50-50 Chance in Final Day
The U.S. State Department says key issues remain in dispute with just about a day to go until the deadline to reach agreement on the main points of an accord between the United Nations and Iran on the future of its nuclear program.
State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf gave the talks just a 50-50 chance of success, saying several issues remain in play as negotiators seek the right balance of terms. But in a phone call with reporters, she disputed a story in Monday’s New York Times that said Iran has backed away from a commitment to ship its stockpile of enriched uranium to Russia.
“This notion that in the last 24 hours that somehow there’s been a shift in this issue, sort of a hardening of positions, just isn’t true," said Harf.
The Times story was based on a statement by Iran’s deputy foreign minister. But Harf said Iran’s position has not changed, and that negotiators are working on ways to make the enriched uranium unavailable for bomb making, which experts say could include such steps as diluting it and having the supply inspected frequently.
“What’s important to us is that we can get agreement about the path for them to basically get rid of a large part of their stockpile, so that the remaining stockpile, when put together with the number of centrifuges, the type of centrifuges, all of the different parts of "Breakout time" is the amount of time it would take Iran to build a nuclear bomb. Currently, international experts put that at just two or three months. The six nations representing the United Nations Security Council want to extend that to at least a year.
Experts say if Iran is allowed to keep the enriched uranium in any form, it will stiffen opposition from some in the U.S. Congress and some U.S. allies in the Middle East.
But Ariane Tabatabai of Georgetown University’s Security Studies Program in Washington says any deal will face opposition.
“Could it be a good deal without the uranium being shipped out? Yes, it could be, depending on what other fixes we find to the other problems. But it would be extremely difficult to sell here in Washington. That said, any deal, for a number of people, would be a bad deal," said Tabatabai.
Even though the deadline loomed, Monday was a quieter day in the talks, with a lighter schedule of meetings with Iranian officials than in previous days, leaving observers to speculate on what was happening behind the scenes. Several European foreign ministers left the talks, but said they would return if a deal is at hand on Tuesday.
Tabatabai says it’s not surprising that this is the most difficult phase of the talks, with the toughest issues left to the end.
U.S. officials have said they expect the talks to go until the last minute Tuesday night, and many observers expect them to go at least a little bit beyond. But Marie Harf says the deadline won’t be extended.
“March 31st is the deadline. It has to mean something. And the decisions don’t get easier after March 31st," she said.
Source-VOA
Obama to Visit Kenya
The White House announced Monday that President Barack Obama is traveling to Kenya, his father's homeland, in July.
This will be Obama's fourth visit to sub-Saharan Africa as president and his first to Kenya since he was first elected in 2008. Serge Yondou is a former communications specialist for the Africa Center for Strategic Studies at the National Defense University in Washington. He says the trip to Kenya is significant.
“For Kenyans, I think the feeling right now is that he’s coming back home. For Africa, it really sends a strong message that Africa is still dear to the heart of President Obama," said Yondou.
Yondou says many Africans could not understand why President Obama did not visit Kenya much sooner.
“Now the time will make them understand that he wasn’t the African president of the U.S., but a U.S. president who happened to have an African father. And he came to power at such a challenging time when we had the financial and health crisis and two wars, so he had to fix that first," he said.
The news is exciting for people like Victoria Malowa, a Ph.D. graduate in international relations at the U.S. International University in Kenya. She says the impact of the first U.S. president with Kenyan roots visiting his ancestral homeland cannot be underestimated.
Malowa, however, says she is interested in how the visit will play out with the current Kenyan government, given how rocky bilateral relations have been.
“We are seeing that Obama is suddenly changing his tone in a very significant way. He suddenly wants to mend the relationship he’s had or his country had with Kenya. And that’s a very significant point there. He’s finally coming to shake hands with Uhuru Kenyatta. We all know how the American government has always voiced [concerns] over the issues of ICC, we know their stance," said Malowa.
The United States had a cool response to President Kenyatta's election in 2013 because he was indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity. The ICC dropped the charges last year.
Malowa says she hopes that President Obama’s visit will lead to changes in some U.S. policies toward Kenya.
“I would really like this visit to come and iron out the issues we have with the travel advisories because these advisories are really affecting our tourism industy. I would really like the U.S. government to change their tone. And secondly, I'd like this visit to help with coming together, come up with ideas to solve some of the security issues we are facing right now because Kenya is not only dealing with internal security matters but also dealing with Somalia and other neighbors," she said.
President Obama is expected to participate in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit while in Kenya. The event brings together business leaders, international organizations and governments, and this is the first time it will be held in sub-Saharan Africa.
The White House said it was not known yet if he will meet with relatives living in Kenya, including his grandmother and uncle who recently visited the United States.
Saudi Airstrike Kills 45 in Yemeni Refugee Camp
A Saudi airstrike killed at least 45 people in a refugee camp in northern Yemen Monday.
Humanitarian workers say civilians are among the casualties.
Rebel-controlled state-run media say women and children were killed, but Saudi officials say they cannot confirm exactly what happened or who was hurt.
The airstrike was apparently targeting a nearby Houthi rebel military installation.
Saudi-led coalition ships have also imposed a blockade to try to stop the Houthis from seizing the main southern port of Aden.
Saudi Arabia is leading an Arab coalition with airstrikes to stop the advance of Shi'ite Houthi rebels in Yemen and assure President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi can return to power.
Since last Thursday, a Saudi-led coalition has conducted an aerial bombardment throughout the country against Yemen's Houthi Shi'ite rebels, but Yemeni Foreign Minister Riyadh Yaseen blamed a Houthi artillery strike for the refugee camp casualties.
A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration said it was not immediately clear how many of those killed were civilians or armed personnel.
On Monday, largely Sunni Muslim Pakistan said it would send troops to Saudi Arabia, a regional ally, to join the coalition fighting Houthi rebels, according to a senior government official reported by Reuters.
Currently, 10 primarily Sunni-Arab states, including several Gulf states, Sudan, Egypt and Morocco, are taking part in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen.
Source-VOA