Cyclone Pam Devastates Vanuatu
Rescue workers began a massive relief operation in Vanuatu on Sunday following a devastating cyclone that killed at least eight people, sent thousands into emergency shelters and disrupted communications in the Pacific island nation.
A nine-member U.N. team was due to arrive Sunday to carry out an initial assessment of the damage from the Category 5 cyclone named Pam, which at its peak covered the entire country on satellite maps.
The storm destroyed entire villages, reducing buildings to timbers, tearing off rooftops, downing power lines and toppling trees with winds of more than 300 kilometers per hour (185 miles per hour).
Several other neighboring countries also were affected.
Officials said the airport in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, remained closed, though they hoped it might partly reopen later Sunday to allow in the first relief planes.
A change of course to the west sent Pam directly at populated areas. The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there were unconfirmed reports of 44 more deaths in Vanuatu's northeastern islands after Pam drifted from the track that had been forecast.
People fleeing the storm's wrath flooded into more than 20 evacuation centers that were filled with thousands of evacuees, government officials said. They awoke to much calmer weather Sunday, but many who ventured out around Port Vila have found their homes damaged or blown away altogether.
Aid officials said the disaster could be one of the worst the Pacific region has ever experienced. UNICEF said the cyclone affected at least half the population of Vanuatu, including about 54,000 children. Oxfam said water, sanitation and hygiene supplies were an urgent priority.
Fears remained high that outlying islands, where there are few support services, may have been especially hard hit by flash flooding and cyclone-related damage. One group, World Vision, warned it could take days or weeks to reach the most remote islands. Officials said they were still unable to contact any region outside the capital.
"Our communication link is still down,'' said Paolo Malatu, an official at the country's National Disaster Management Office. "We have not got any information from outside Port Vila.''
The storm struck as Vanuatu's president, Baldwin Lonsdale, was at a United Nations conference on disaster reduction in Japan. He appealed for international assistance, saying he was speaking with "a heavy heart."
A U.N. statement on a meeting between Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Lonsdale on the sidelines of the conference quoted the U.N. chief as saying Vanuatu "has already been suffering from the adverse effects of climate change." He said "storms such as Pam only exacerbate the challenges that the country faces."
With Lonsdale away and unable to fly into Vanuatu, the government was being led temporarily by Charlot Salwai, acting minister for climate change, government officials said.
Officials on Sunday confirmed eight fatalities, a toll that was expected to increase amid unconfirmed reports of dozens of dead in the nation's remote northeast region. At least 20 others were injured.
Source-VOA
The Champions crucified the Saints in Softball
The Church Slow Pitch League resumed play after the secondary high school track and field event at the National Stadium.
The first game of the night was between Bethany & Prophecy.
Prophecy put the first runs on the board in the second inning, but in the third, Bethany returned with a 5 to 3 lead. In the fourth, Prophecy returned the favor, taking the lead 9 to 3. Bethany tried to mount a come back but it was not enough, as Prophecy ended the evening with a win of 9 to 6.
In the second game, Jericho challenged St Monica's; this game would prove that the champs are for real!
They erected the first runs on the board while the saints were trying to over come, to get a win over the champs, but the champions stood around the walls of Jericho and proved too much, beating St Monica's 12 to 4.
Games will continue on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday of next week.
'Star Wars Episode VIII' Due May 2017, Spin-Off Titled 'Rogue One'
Disney has booked a release date for "Star Wars Episode VIII". The studio announced it at their annual shareholders meeting in San Francisco on Thursday, March 12. The eighth movie in the franchise is set for North American release on May 26, 2017.
The Mouse House also revealed the title of one of the "Star Wars" spin-offs. Directed by Gareth Edwards and scripted by Chris Weitz ("Cinderella"), the stand-alone film is called "Rogue One" with Felicity Jones taking on the lead role. It is scheduled for December 16, 2016.
The plot is still kept under tight wraps, but the title itself seems to refer to the starfighter squadron led by Luke Skywalker in 1980's "The Empire Strikes Back" during the Battle of Hoth. The squadron also appeared in 1983's "Return of the Jedi" during the attack on the second Death Star.
A sequel to J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" which is due December 18 this year, "Episode VIII" will be directed by "Looper" helmer Rian Johnson. It is expected to be followed by another spin-off before "Star Wars Episode IX" bows in 2019.
Another major announcement at the shareholders meeting was the confirmation that "Frozen 2" is in the works. No other details including the release date are shared, but the original directors Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck are set to return for the sequel.
US, Cuba to Resume Talks on Diplomatic Relations
U.S. and Cuban officials will launch a third round of talks Monday on restoration of diplomatic relations.
A senior State Department official said the talks would take place in Havana and might last several days.
The two sides last met in Washington in late February. Negotiators have been discussing issues that include reopening embassies in Washington and Havana after five decades of estrangement.
When asked whether it was possible that the embassies might be reopened in time for the April Summit of the Americas in Panama, the senior State Department official said it was “something we would like.”
U.S. Assistant Secretary Roberta Jacobson and Josefina Vidal, the head of the U.S. division at the Cuban Foreign Ministry, are leading the talks.
After the two sides met last month, Vidal said a U.S. decision to remove Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism was not a precondition for re-establishing ties. But she thought it would be difficult to explain that Cuba and the U.S. had re-established relations if Cuba remained on the list.
The senior State Department official said that while the two issues remained separate, a review was underway on Cuba’s status and would be completed as quickly as possible.
The official also said U.S. and Cuban officials would meet later this month to discuss human rights issues and telecommunications policies.
The U.S. imposed a trade embargo on Cuba in 1960 and closed its embassy the following year. In January, following an initiative announced by President Barack Obama, the two sides began a series of meetings to re-establish ties.
Boko Haram Cleared From Adamawa State
The Nigerian military says troops have freed the last area held by Boko Haram militants in northeastern Adamawa state.
The military says on its Twitter feed that troops on Thursday cleared insurgents out of Madagali, an area near the Nigerian-Cameroon border. There was no independent verification of the report.
In an interview Wednesday with VOA, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan predicted Boko Haram would lose its last territories in Adamawa and Yobe states by the middle of next week.
A multinational offensive has pushed the Islamic extremist group out of the numerous towns it had occupied in northeastern Nigeria.
Forces from Chad, Niger and Cameroon have taken prominent roles in the fighting. This week, Jonathan and other government sources acknowledged that non-African military personnel also are involved.
Jonathan described the personnel as trainers, but Nigerian troops told VOA that many have taken part in the fighting.
The foreigners reportedly have come from South Africa, Britain and Ukraine.
Source-VOA
GOVERNMENT REWARDS WORKERS WITH KEY SKILLS
Details of how $9m will be invested in attracting, retaining and rewarding public sector workers who have the skills needed by the Turks and Caicos Islands Government were revealed today, Wednesday, 11 March 2015.
TCI Premier, Dr. Rufus Ewing, and Head of the Public Service, Deputy Governor Anya Williams, held a joint news conference to explain the implementation, and how it will be focused on workers in the fields of education, health and the nation’s security from 1 April 2015. It applies across the civil service and the Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force.
“This is the next necessary step in the process of properly rewarding and remunerating public servants,” said Premier Ewing. “After the restoration of the 10% pay cut in 2012, the implementation of this pay and grading review is the next logical step in a process of properly rewarding our front line staff. This is yet another key manifesto commitment being delivered by my Government.
“This is not an across the board pay increase - rather, it is focused on those front line, technical and professional roles that have a combination of responsibility and qualifications and competences.
This move will allow the TCI public service to become an even more attractive career option and will help to put the TCI on par with other regions,” added Anya Williams.
“We have known for some time that our public sector pay lagged behind those rates in other UK Overseas Territories and so it is only right and proper that we redress this now.
“The Premier and I have worked hard to ensure that this money goes into those areas where it is needed most - in education, health and in our security and protection of our borders.
It is also part of our ongoing reform process in the TCI public Service where we have been working hard to improve our management systems, especially in the area of performance management, and have been investing heavily in training and professional development through a number of programmes.”
Key principles are that the new Pay and Grading System must be transparent, fair, equitable and reflect the major differences in responsibility and skill levels. The new Pay and Grading System will allow the Public Service to have a structure for the proper and transparent management of remuneration.
The benefits of implementing the new pay and grading System are:
· A simplified structure for fair and equitable remuneration of public officers and waged staff
· Systems and structures that ensure accountability in allocating remuneration and rewards fairly and justly and according to procedure
· Line of sight between resources available to government with contribution made by effective people in well-designed jobs
· Linking performance and incremental progression
· Meeting equality of opportunity objectives
· Enhanced transparency and integrity.
There is now a new simpler scales for all jobs and pay in the civil service. There are 10 grades each with five pay points in the mainstream service. In recognition of the flatter management structure in teaching there are now five grades and 24 salary points; similarly given the rank structure in the Police there are six grades totalling 33 salary points. Previously there were two grade structures with 68 and 40 salary points respectively.
The cornerstone of the new pay and grading system is job evaluation which involved establishing grade level standards for each grade which are essentially a set of criteria that distinguish the compensable factors at the differing levels by describing features at each level.
The new system was developed through extensive consultation via a working group, including the Civil Servants Association, and the senior executive.
The Premier and Deputy Governor will go on to speak directly to civil servants at staff meetings in the capital Grand Turk and Providenciales on Wednesday and Thursday respectively.
$10-b tax package hits motorists, smokers, electricity users hard in Jamaica
Jamaicans will have to pay more taxes to drive, smoke and use electricity on April 1 when a $10.3-billion tax package introduced yesterday by Minister of Finance and Planning Dr Peter Phillips takes effect.
The tax measures came as no surprise to some observers, despite constant assurances from Dr Phillips, since the tabling of the budget on February 19, that compliance measures would fill most of the gap.
They will also affect domestic production as well as importers, including those trading with Jamaica’s Caribbean Community (Caricom) partners who are required to pay an environmental tax; those paying trade and business licence fees; and is expected to be extended to affect life insurance companies before the fiscal year ends. Hardest hit are motorists who will have to fork out some $8.2 billion more per annum to pay for petrol and petroleum products at local service stations.
Dr Phillips admitted in the House of Representatives yesterday that the hole in his $641-billion budget for 2015/16 was really $22.7-billion.
The ministry had previously spoken to a $10.4-billion gap, which Phillips suggested could be largely filled by increased compliance, as well as some changes to the Property Tax Act, new transfer tax legislation affecting transfer pricing rules, and withholding tax on statutory payments.
However, yesterday he explained that those measures would only cover $12.3 billion of the $22.7- billion-wide hole by the end of the year.
This left a gap of $10.4 billion, which has to be filled by new revenue measures.
These measures include:
• an increase in the special consumption tax per stick of cigarette from $10.50 to $12, as of today, to yield $488 million in revenue;
• an additional specific special consumption tax of $7 per litre of petrol, which is expected to yield $6.4 billion as of March 18;
• Conversion of the one per cent petroleum cess to a specific special consumption tax of $2 per litre of specific petroleum products, to yield a further $1.8 billion also as of March 18;
• Re-introduction of the GCT at the standard rate on monthly residential electricity consumption above 350 kilowatt hours, to yield $807 million as of April 1; and
• The extension of the environmental levy to cover domestic production and imports from Caricom partners, as well as imports from countries outside of the regional community, to reap an addition $962 million in tax revenues as of April 1.
Phillips also informed the House that his ministry is still in discussions with the insurance sector on introducing a corporate income tax (on total income) to be levied at the standard rate of 25 per cent.
On the positive side, Dr Phillips announced an increase in the income tax threshold, from $557,232 to $592,800, effective next January, which will cost the Government some $644 million by the end of the fiscal year, and removal of duties on imported breeding stock for the horse racing industry, costing only $1 million.
Phillips told the House that the additional revenues are necessary if the country is to attain the target of a 7.5 per cent primary surplus in the absence of any further policy or administrative actions.
“The Jamaican people are a people of faith, and now is the time for us to demonstrate our faith in the future, bolstered by what we have achieved thus far and confident in our capacities to achieve our goals,” Phillips said.
Source-Jamaica Observer
US stocks fall on dollar's strength
US shares ended the week lower, despite a small recovery on Thursday, as investors fretted over falling oil prices and a strong US dollar.
At the end of trading on Friday, the Dow Jones was down 146 points - or 0.8% - at 17,749.57, while the S&P 500 was 12.6 points lower at 2,053.39.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq shed 21.33 points to 4,871.76.
The dollar rose by 1.42% against the euro, making one dollar worth €0.9543.
A strong dollar can hurt US companies' profits, as they get less from their overseas earnings after currency conversions.
Additionally, the dollar's strength makes it harder for firms to compete with foreign rivals, who may be able to offer similar products more cheaply.
The price of the US oil benchmark - West Texas Crude - fell by 4% to $45 a barrel, hurting shares in the sector.
Oil and gas driller Ensco fell by almost 6.6%, while rig owner Transocean fell almost 5%.
Stallions to take on the Spartans
The PABA league resumed after a short break with two exciting games on Wednesday evening in Providenciales.
The Hustlerz defeated the Spartans 66 -58.
Kirk adams scored 26 pts, 17 rebs, 7 assists, 5 steals while Tory Jackson added 18 pts, and Devonio Quant scored 18 pts, 11 rebs for the Hustlerz.
The Steelers defeated the Shottas 66-63 with a last second buzzer beater by Tevin Missick.
The Steelers scored 6 points in 4 seconds to clinch the win. Sugar Ray Smith scored 13 pts, 4 rebs, 3 assists and 3 steals while Edwin Pierre added 11 points for the Shottas.
Tevin Missick scored 23 points and caught 9 rebounds and Evans Donatien scored 17 points, 10 rebs & nabbed 4 assists for the Steelers.
Games will continue on Friday night when the mighty Stallions will take on the Spartans and the Predators will do battle against the Coca Cola Classics.
These exciting games will attract a fee of $5.00 per entry.
Jury Rules "Blurred Lines" Violated Copyright of Marvin Gaye
A jury in Los Angeles has found that Robin Thicke and his collaborators on "Blurred Lines" improperly borrowed from Marvin Gaye's 1977 hit "Got to Give It Up," awarding the family of the late soul singer $7.3 million dollars for the copyright infringement.
Gaye's family sued Thicke and his co-writers Pharrell Williams and rapper T.I., accusing them of using material from the late soul singer's hit for their 2013 smash.
Both Thicke and Pharrell appeared in court defending their work, with Pharrell admitting similarities in testimony and Thicke admitting he was a fan of the Gaye hit.