TCI Represented at Hurricane Ivan 10 Symposium in Grenada
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) is being represented at the Regional Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) Forum, convened to examine advances in Response and Recovery approaches since Hurricane Ivan devastated the Region in September, 2004.
Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, Director of Disaster Management and Emergencies is in Grenada attending the “Ivan 10 Symposium”, which is being held at the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort, from 1st – 3rd December 2014. The event is organized by the Coordinating Unit of the CDEMA in collaboration with the Government of Grenada and other CDEMA partners. It is a CDEMA Corner Stone event to commemorate the 10th Anniversary of Hurricane Ivan.
Hurricane Ivan impacted the Caribbean in September 2004 as a Category 5 Storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. It was one of the most powerful storms to hit the Caribbean in decades and left a trail of damage and destruction from Trinidad and Tobago to the Cayman Islands with most significant impact in Grenada, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. Regional losses amount to USD$3 billion and 64 persons died.
Convened under the theme “Exploring Response and Recovery, Embracing Resilience” the symposium will examine response and recovery approaches following the impact of Hurricane Ivan, whilst exploring progress towards resilience in the region. This event will also feature the Caribbean sub-regional Consultation on the World Humanitarian Summit (WHS), to frame the Caribbean’s perspective as an input to the regional consultation in 2015 and the global summit in 2016.
The World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) is an initiative by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to make humanitarian action related to natural hazards and conflicts more effective. The WHS will aim to develop stronger partnerships and seek innovative solutions to persistent and new humanitarian challenges.
The main objective for the Ivan 10 Symposium are:
To explore the evolution of response and recovery approaches since Hurricane Ivan.
To articulate a CDEMA-System position to contribute to the World Humanitarian Summit Process
To examine advancements towards resilience building through sound financial and economic practices innovation
Topics to be discussed at the symposium include inter alia, Humanitarian Effectiveness, Reducing Vulnerability and Managing Risk, Development and Economic Consequences of Climatic Hazards, and Transformation through Innovation.
Light trucks, holiday discounts drive volume up 5%
Spurred by a 20 percent gain at Chrysler Group and aided by Black Friday discounts and light-truck demand, U.S. light-vehicle sales jumped 5 percent last month, pushing the annualized pace of deliveries above 17 million for the second time this year.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of 17.2 million fell shy of August’s 17.5 million. But it showed that demand remains robust as the industry winds up its fifth year of recovery since the recession.
Some analysts, however, warned that November’s surge could steal some sales from December.
Sales of cars, crossovers, minivans, SUVs and other vehicles totaled 1.3 million in November, the highest tally for the month since 2001. Light-truck volume jumped 9 percent while car deliveries slipped 0.1 percent.
“Automakers were keen marketers in November, tapping early into Black Friday magic to boost sales to levels not seen in more than a decade,” said John Krafcik, president of the TrueCar online car-buying service. “While the deals were good, automakers held the line on incentives.”
Subaru led all automakers with a 24 percent gain. General Motors, helped by strong truck and SUV deliveries, rebounded from a soft October with a 6 percent advance. American Honda Motor Co. set a November record with combined Honda and Acura sales of 121,814 units, an increase of 5 percent.
Toyota Motor Corp. and the VW brand each rose 3 percent. Volumes at Ford Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Corp. declined. Kia and Hyundai also fell.
Among GM brands, sales rose 27 percent at Buick, 23 percent at GMC and 3 percent at Chevrolet. Volume dropped 19 percent at Cadillac. GM’s retail deliveries edged up 5 percent and fleet volume jumped 11 percent.
Edmunds.com estimated GM's incentives rose 23 percent in November to $3,505 from a year earlier.
“The buzz around Black Friday helped drive strong showroom traffic but there was a lot more at work in the market,” Kurt McNeil, vice president for U.S. sales operations at GM, said in a statement. “More people have jobs and job security, their wages are starting to increase, household wealth is growing and low pump prices look like they’re here to stay through 2015.”
Source-Auto News
PlayStation turns 20 today
The break-through video console from Sony (SNYFY) Computer Entertainment marks its 20th anniversary today, and to celebrate, Sony is releasing a special Anniversary Edition PS4.
Pre-orders start on Dec. 6, and are available only in "very limited supply," according to the company.
Shunei Yoshida, author of the PlayStation.Blog, noted that the original PlayStation launched in Japan on Dec. 3, 1994.
"20 years is a long time!" he blogged. "In 1994, many outsiders thought that Sony was slightly crazy to launch the original PlayStation into an incredibly competitive gaming market. Who could blame them?"
The market is still competitive. Xbox One from Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) is in hot demand this holiday shopping season, giving the PlayStation 4 a run for its money, along with competing consoles from Nintendo, including the Wii U.
Trying to gain an edge, Sony recently unveiled an Internet cable service called Vue, which would be accessible through PlayStation consoles instead of a cable box.
The company is struggling. Sony expects to lose more than $2 billion in the current fiscal year, largely due to losses in the highly competitive smartphone industry.
Source-CNN
Burt Reynolds Denies He's Broke
Burt Reynolds insists he is not broke. The actor was rumored facing a dire financial crisis after putting more than 600 of his personal items up for auction, but he claims he's just cleaning the house. "I want everyone to know that contrary to what all the news outlets are saying, I am not broke," he says.
"I have been dealing with a business dispute for many years as well as a divorce settlement. I am simply selling some of my memorabilia that I have enjoyed for so many years but do not have use nor room for them anymore," he explains to ET Online. "Quite frankly, I am sick of so many pictures of myself in my own home."
The auction will take place at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas on December 11 and 12. Burt's 1998 Golden Globe trophy for "Boogie Nights", the outfit he wore in "Smokey and the Bandit", and cowboy boots from movie "Striptease" are among the items on sale. "I've collected so many things that I truly adore but at this stage of my life I find it very difficult to manage them all," he says.
Burt filed for bankruptcy in 1996, three years after a messy divorce from actress Loni Anderson. He also has mortgage issue and has been trying to sell his Jupiter, Fla. house, cutting down the price from $8 million to less than $5 million.
Source-Ace.Showbiz
Woman sues Bill Cosby for alleged sexual assault in 1974
Yet another woman has come forward accusing comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault.
Judy Huth filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, claiming sexual battery and infliction of emotional distress during an incident at the Playboy Mansion, according to the documents first obtained by Radar Online.
The alleged sexual assault took place in 1974 when Huth was 15 years old.
According to court documents, Huth and a 16-year-old friend met Cosby when he was filming a movie at Lacy Park in Los Angeles.
After talking with the girls, the suit alleges, Cosby invited them to his tennis club the following Saturday, "where he served them alcoholic beverages and played games of billiards."
They then went to the Playboy Mansion where, the lawsuit says, Cosby asked Huth to sit on a bed beside him, after she came out of a bathroom.
"He then proceeded to sexually molest her by attempting to put his hand down her pants, and then taking her hand in his hand and performing a sex act on himself without her consent."
CNN reached out to Cosby's lawyer Martin D. Singer but was not immediately able to get a response. His camp has repeatedly and vigorously denied previous allegations.
Source-CNN
Relatively quiet 2014 Atlantic Hurricane Season
The 2014 Atlantic hurricane season which officially ended on November 30 will be remembered as a relatively quiet season as was predicted and can even be described as uneventful for the Caribbean region.
The Caribbean was spared this season from any major storms or hurricanes but it is not always going to be so.
It was predicted that during the 2014 Hurricane Season, there could be about 12 named storms, 6 hurricanes and 2 major hurricanes of categories 3, 4 or 5. The actual numbers at the end of the official season were 8 named storms, 6 hurricanes and two major hurricanes.
The two major hurricanes were Edouard, a category 3 in early September and Gonzalo, a category 4 in mid-October. The other Hurricanes were Arthur, a category 2 in early July, Bertha, a Category 1 in early August, Cristobal, a Category 1 towards the end of August and Fay, a category 1 in Mid-October. The other named storm, Hanna towards the end of October remained a tropical storm. There were 9 depressions.
While there were no direct hits to any Caribbean Country, the islands of Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts/Nevis and Anguilla were affected by Hurricane Gonzalo, while the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, Bermuda and other islands in the Lesser Antilles were affected by some of this season’s hurricanes.
The effects of the 2014 Hurricane season in North America and the Caribbean resulted in 17 fatalities and damage totaling about US$232 Million.
During the season, the Caribbean was also affected by intense precipitation due to Trough systems and tropical waves which would have negatively impacted some of the islands. This has prompted the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), a risk insurance facility, which many of the countries subscribe too, to pay off US$1.5Million as compensation for damage to St. Kitts/Nevis and Anguilla in early November.
Amidst the Hurricanes, storms and intense rains during the 2014 Hurricane season some Caribbean countries suffered some drought conditions. These countries included Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Lucia, Guyana and Antigua where stringent measures had to be introduced for use of water. The St. Lucian Government had to declare a water crisis, Jamaica trucked water into various communities and in Antigua, a water supplier had to significantly increase the amount of water it provided on a daily basis.
New LIAT flights between Barbados and Guyana
LIAT has added four new services per week between Dominica and Saint Maarten and three additional services between Barbados and Ogle in Guyana.
The LI 331 flight is scheduled to depart Dominica at 11:05 a.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, arriving in St Maarten at 12:05 p.m. The return service is scheduled to depart St Maarten at 3:05 p.m., arriving in Dominica at 4:05 p.m.
The three additional services between Barbados and Ogle will bring LIAT’s total number of flights to Guyana to ten per week.
LIAT 391 is scheduled to depart Barbados at 8:50 a.m., arriving at Ogle at 10:50 a.m. The return flight, LI 390 departs Ogle at 11:20 a.m, arriving back into Barbados at 1:20 p.m. The flights operate on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
Source-Nations News
West Indies Captain appeals for better helmets
West Indies test Captain Denesh Ramdin has appealed to makers of cricket helmets to improve their product, following the death of Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, who was hit by a bouncer from Sean Abbott.
Ramdin made the call as the West Indies left the Caribbean Sunday for South Africa to play that country in a three-Test series.
“The helmets that we have needs to be improved because when you get a lash on it, you really feel the pain,” Ramdin said.
“It is basically just a piece of fibreglass and this is not adequate protection.”
Last year the International Cricket Council appointed a committee to look at an international bench mark for standards on helmets and is likely to fast track the process in light of Hughes death.
The West Indies open their tour with a warm-up match against a South African Invitational XI at Benoni on December 10 to be followed by the first Test, at Centurion starting December 17.
The second test starts on Boxing Day, December 26 while the final test is due to start January 2 at Capetown.
Three T20s and five One Day Internationals (ODIs) will follow before the team returns to the Caribbean for a short break, ahead of the World Cup in New Zealand and Australia in February.
“This team is very tough but we have good players on our team and we are going to give them a run. We just need to keep focus and do the right things consistently and we will get the results we want,” Ramdin said.
“The senior players including myself have to lead from the front and the younger players have to take their lead.”
West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) announced on Monday that in-form Windward Islands opener Devon Smith will replace veteran opener Chris Gayle who has been forced out of the series due to injury.
Source-CMC
Australian cricketer gets emotional send-off
Australia cricket captain Michael Clarke broke down in tears as he paid tribute to friend and team-mate Phillip Hughes at the batsman's funeral.
Hughes, 25, died last week after being hit by a ball during a match in Sydney.
His death stunned Australia and the funeral was broadcast live to millions of people on national television and on big screens in major cities.
Around 5,000 people attended the service in Hughes's home town of Macksville, New South Wales.
The service was also shown at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where Hughes suffered the injury during a state match on Tuesday, 25 November. He died two days later.
During the 80-minute service, Clarke said: "Phillip's spirit, which is now part of our game forever, will act as a custodian of the sport we all love.
"We must listen to it. We must cherish it. We must learn from it. We must dig in and get through to tea. And we must play on.
"So rest in peace my little brother. I will see you out in the middle."
Around 1,000 people attended the funeral at Macksville High School, which Hughes attended, as thousands more watched on screens in the baking heat outside.
Joining the parents of Hughes, Greg and Virginia, and his siblings, Jason and Megan, were Clarke and Sean Abbott, the bowler whose delivery caused the fatal injury to Hughes.
Former Australia internationals Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Steve Waugh and Justin Langer were also among the mourners.
South Stream gas line cancelled by Russia's President
Russian President Vladimir Putin's announcement that he is cancelling the planned $50bn (£32bn; €40bn) South Stream gas pipeline has caused a mixture of surprise, relief and dismay in countries dependent on Russian gas across central and eastern Europe.
Russia's critics have long argued that, parallel to nuclear expansion, gas pipelines constitute "the long fingers of the Kremlin", opening the way for political as well as economic influence. So this decision is a dramatic change of direction.
"It may be a bluff," said Martin Vladimirov, an energy specialist at the Centre for the Study of Democracy in Sofia, "to pressurise the Bulgarian, Serbian, Hungarian and Austrian governments to unite behind accelerating the project, and make a better case for it to the European Commission".
However, he favours a second explanation, that South Stream is "simply too big a burden" amid the difficult financial situation facing Russia's state-owned giant Gazprom.
Europe has a falling demand for gas, and does not need the potential 63bn cubic metres (cu m) a year that South Stream would provide. The North Stream pipeline is only filled to a fraction of its similar capacity, and runs at a loss.
Instead, Mr Vladimirov believes, Gazprom is looking to new markets, turning its gas strategy eastwards. "It would need $100bn in the next four to five years to develop the Eastern Siberian fields and construct a pipeline to China," he says.
Scrapping South Stream comes as a setback to the governments in Hungary and Serbia, among the strongest backers of the project, alongside the Austrian company OMV and the Italian ENI.
Source-BBC