House of Assembly to meet on June 11th & 12th,2014
The first (1ST) sitting of the eight meeting of the second session of the tenth (10TH LEGISLATURE) of the House Of Assebmly will be held on Thursday 5TH June 2014 at Hon. N.J.S. Francis Building, in Grand Turk.
The meeting of the house is expected to last for two days and will have a total of 4 motions including Incremental increase in Minimum wages to be moved by Hon. Edwin Astwood; the second members motion to be president by Hon. Sean Astwood will look at Business Licences, the 3rd private members motion to be president will be moved by Hon. Goldray Ewing on Lobsters & Conch Reproduction program & the final members motions on Drafting of Biometrics & Surveillance laws will be presented by Hon. Goldray Ewing.
Before private motions can be presented, the Governments business will be discussed & will cover the Companies Amended bill 2014, the Financial Intelligence Agency bill, the Prevention of Terrorism Bill 2014 & the proceeds of crime amendment bill.
The opposition will seek clarification in question time to some 28 questions with some deferred from previous meeting held on April 28th 2014.
RTC will have live coverage of all sittings commencing at 10am.
Usain Bolt 'not ready' to race yet after foot injury
Six-time Olympic champion sprinter Usain Bolt has delayed his return to competition after falling behind in training because of a foot injury.
The world record holder has withdrawn from this month's Ostrava Golden Spike and Paris Diamond League meetings.
Bolt, 27, said he was "100% healthy" and back in full training after missing sessions in late March and early April.
But added: "Unfortunately due to the training that I missed I'm behind where I normally am at this time of year."
The 100m in the Czech Republic town of Ostrava on 17 June would have been the Jamaican's first race of the year. He had also received top billing for the 100m in Paris on 5 July.
"I hope to be back in competition soon, but how soon will depend on my training in the next few weeks," said the double world and Olympic champion.
"It is important for me to take my time this year as I have three tough years ahead in 2015, 2016 and 2017 as I attempt to defend my world and Olympic titles.
"I definitely plan to compete this season and will continue to work hard with my coach who I have the utmost confidence in to get me fit and ready to compete."
Bolt has yet to confirm whether he will compete in this summer's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
Moscow and Kiev seek 'end to bloodshed'
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President-elect Petro Poroshenko have called for a quick end to the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine, Russian officials have said.
The two leaders were meeting for the first time since Mr Poroshenko's election, at a D-Day event in France.
Mr Putin also spoke briefly to the US president, the White House said.
Fighting continues, with government forces reportedly launching a tank attack near rebel-held Sloviansk.
The Ukrainian authorities have announced an "active phase" of what they call an anti-terrorist operation in and around Sloviansk, which was seized by pro-Russian militants several weeks ago.
Separately, Ukrainian media reported that one member of the security forces had been killed and several wounded in a mortar attack outside the city.
IMF warns Osborne over housing bubble risk
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned George Osborne that accelerating house prices and low productivity pose the greatest threat to the UK's economic recovery.
It said rising property values could leave households more vulnerable to income and interest rate shocks.
It also called on the Bank of England to enact policy measures "early and gradually" to avoid a housing bubble.
In April, the IMF said the UK economy would grow by 2.9% in 2014.
The Fund's annual health check of the UK economy found it has "rebounded strongly and growth is becoming more balanced" adding economic growth would "remain strong this year."
It is a significant turnaround from last year when the IMF's chief economist Oliver Blanchard appeared to have a public falling out with the chancellor after he criticised the government's austerity policies.
This year IMF managing director Christine Lagarde admitted the Fund "got it wrong" in its assessment adding that while the UK's economic recovery began with consumer spending, it was now rebalancing towards an "investment-led recovery".
The Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee (FPC) is due to meet later in June and could announce measures to control mortgage lending.
In May, 25% taxpayer-backed Lloyds Banking Group said it would limit its mortgage lending to four times a borrower's income on loans above £500,000.
On Tuesday, Royal Bank of Scotland - which remains 80% taxpayer-owned - said it would also restrict the amount it advanced to mortgage borrowers.
'Full mobile penetration by 2016' says Lime
Telecommunications provider LIME aims to get the entire population using Internet on their mobile phone within two years.
That would require well over a million new users and a similar number of web-enabled phones to be sold into the market by 2016.
Mobile data subscribers totalled 780,000 towards the end of 2013, according to the Planning Institute of Jamaica.
LIME's target is much loftier than a more conservative projection made last month by rival Digicel, which expects half the population to get online by year-end.
Still that would put the total number of mobile data subscribers at 1.4 million. In other words, the larger of the two telecoms expects data subscription growth 80 per cent this year.
Higher penetration would allow both providers to earn greater income from data in a market characterised by an over 66 per cent slash in voice call rates in 12 months.
Telecommunications players have committed investments at over $14 billion in mobile infrastructure in anticipation of increased demand from consumers.
Thousands march in Haiti protest
Thousands have marched in the streets of Haiti’s capital demanding President Michel Martelly step down.
Police fired tear gas and broke up the crowd in Port-au-Prince. There were no reports of serious injuries.
Haiti has seen several anti-government protests in recent months amid growing anger over the cost of living and claims of high levels of corruption.
Mr Martelly won elections in 2011, pledging to help Haiti recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake.
One report estimated that 5,000 demonstrators took part in Thursday’s march, some setting fire to tyres and barricading streets.
They demanded Mr Martelly resign and new elections be held. Some held signs demanding Canada, France and the US “help Haitians get rid of the leaders in power”.
“We want elections but we are asking that President Martelly and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe first step down,” former senator Turneb Delpe said in quotes carried by the AFP news agency.
“The people do not trust these leaders to organise honest elections.”
Source-BBC
Fortis rewards employees
Rewards are motivating to one who is excelling based on their achievements, and today there is a bit of celebrations for some of Fortis employees.
FortisTCI announced and celebrated recent promotions of nine employees offering exemplary on the job performance.
FortisTCI is a performance-based organization and the Company rewards employees based on merit. These employees have worked toward bettering themselves, which in turn has benefited the Company, and the Country as a whole.
Promotions and new titles have been awarded as follows:
Avi Adams – Oswald Smith – Gregory Thomas – Kauven Williams – Brenton Smith – Daylon Joseph – Roxanne Lewis – Shernelle Capron – Anderson Walkin –
FortisTCI President and CEO Mr. Eddinton Powell said, “FortisTCI provides an environment that recognizes and rewards excellence and performance, and enables opportunities for growth and upward mobility. Our team members have worked hard to achieve their new positions.”
The newly promoted employees have already begun settling into their new positions and, in some cases, their new offices. As they look forward to tackling their new roles with the same levels of excellence and dedication, FortisTCI expects to see even greater results from the team.
France beats Trinidad 3-0
Argentina cruised to a 3-0 victory over Trinidad & Tobago in a World Cup warm-up match in Buenos Aires.
Captain Lionel Messi missed several first-half chances before striker Rodrigo Pa-lacio headed the home side ahead immediately before the break.
Messi, who has scored only once in two World Cup tournaments, then hit the post with a free-kick but Javier Mas-che-rano tapped in the rebound.
And Maxi Rodriguez scored from a tight angle to complete the victory.
"We finished strongly, Trinidad and Tobago were opponents who closed up at the back like some teams in the group will do at the World Cup," said Messi, who opposition midfielder Ata-ullah Guerra bowed to before the match.
Argentina play a final warm-up match at home to Slovenia in La Plata on Saturday before opening their World Cup campaign against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Sunday, 15 June.
Iran and Nigeria complete their World Cup group.
Kischo beats Beaches in cricket
The Turks and Caicos Cricket Association 2014 Cricket Season continued on Sunday 1st June 2014 at The Downtown Ball Park Providenciales with game 7 between Kischo & Beaches.
Beaches won the toss and inserted Kischo who then posted an impressive 221 runs from the loss of 8 wickets from 20 overs. Llyod Lynch top scored with a Dazzling 81 runs which was punctuated with 10x4’s and 2x6’s.
Cyril Fernandes also added 28 runs, consisting of 4x4’s and 1x6.
Bowling for Beaches Sid-hue Hunter took 3 wickets for 52 runs from 4 overs and Darnell Lewis and Ancell Williams took 2 wickets a piece
In reply Beaches were dismissed for 128 runs from 14.2 overs. Top Scorers were Ancell Williams with 28 runs and Anthony McKnight with 25 runs.
Bowling for Kischo was Pa-wan Kumar, who took 3 wickets for 19 runs from 3.1 overs and Sanjay Fat-nani who captured 3 wickets for 41 runs from 4 overs.
Man of the Match Llyod Lynch.
Once again Kischo 221 for 8 & Beaches 128 runs all out.
Metro strike halts Sao Paulo ahead of World Cup
A public transport strike has caused traffic chaos in Brazil's largest city, Sao Paulo, a week before it hosts the opening match of the World Cup.
Half of the underground stations were closed by striking transport workers, who are demanding a 10% pay rise.
Angry commuters stormed the Itaquera station, nearest the stadium where Brazil will play Croatia on 12 June.
Police and other public sector workers say they will go on strike in the next few weeks if their demands are not met.
The authorities said they would sack staff if they failed to meet legal requirements and keep at least 70% of services running.
The state-owned underground company has offered a 8.7% pay rise, which was rejected by the unions which declared the strike for an undetermined period.