TCAAA & CGA host JAGS McCartney Relays
The Turks and Caicos Amateur Athletic Association (TCAAA) and the Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) have partnered to host another exciting JAGS McCartney Invitational Relays in collaboration with the IAAF’s 19th World Athletics Day 2014.
The TC3A’s and the CGA invite the Communities of the Turks and Caicos Islands, especially Grand Turk, to this Sporting Event, scheduled to take place on Saturday 24th May, 2014 in the nation’s capital, Grand Turk, commencing at 10:00 a.m. with an Opening Ceremony.
This one-day Signature event of sports and culture, will showcase our children’s talent from ages 5–7, 8-10, 11-13, under 17, under 20 and the Open Relays. All schools and clubs throughout the country are expected to participate.
Winners from all Relay categories will be awarded medals and prizes.
The TC3A’s and the CGA expect widespread support for the success of these Relays, therefore fans, come on out and support the Teams as they strive to keep these Relays alive and in so doing better themselves in Athletics.
TCI MEN’S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM TO COMPETE IN THE PRELIMINARY QUALIFICATION ROUND OF THE CARIBBEAN CUP
The Turks & Caicos Islands (TCI) Men’s National Soccer Team will be travelling to Aruba next week. There, they take part in the Preliminary Qualification Round of The 2014 Caribbean Cup, consisting of three games against Aruba, the British Virgin Islands and French Guiana.
The 2014 Caribbean Cup will be the 17th edition of the Caribbean Cup, an international football competition for national teams of member nations affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) of the CONCACAF region. What is more, the Caribbean Cup is a qualifying tournament for the CONCACAF Gold Cup and it will be the TCI team’s first international tournament since the World Cup Qualifying games against The Bahamas in 2011 and also Craig Harrington’s first game as TCIFA’s Technical Director.
Of The Caribbean Cup, the Technical Director said: “You have to be realistic.
We are in a group with three other teams and it’s going to be real battle. I think we have the potential to get out of this first group but it depends on the first game against Aruba. That game is a World Cup final for us and if we can get three points then our confidence will rise and then we go into the final games with a fighting chance. Our team can do some real damage with the quality of players we have, especially going forward."
Chris Bryan, President of the TCIFA said: “The team we have assembled is made up of predominately academy players who have come up through the TCIFA youth system from an early age. This is a milestone in our development of football here in the islands.
The 20-men squad for Team TCI Soccer Team travels to Aruba via InterCaribbean Airlines on Wednesday, May 28th, returning Wednesday, June 4th.
TCIFA to host CFU Women's Caribbean Cup
The Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association will host Group 3 of the inaugural CFU Women's Caribbean Cup starting today at the TCIFA Academy here in Providenciales.
Group 3 of the inaugural CFU Women's Caribbean Cup, will include teams TCI, Bermuda, Cayman Islands and St. Kitts & Nevis.
Matches will be played at the TCIFA National Academy today Friday, May 23rd, with Cayman taking on St. Kitts & Nevis at 5pm and Team TCI challenging Bermuda at 7pm.
On Sunday May 25th Bermuda will meet Cayman @ 5pm and the TCI v St. Kitts & Nevis @ 7pm and on Tuesday May 27 - St. Kitts & Nevis v Bermuda @ 5pm TCI v Cayman @ 7pm
Football fans and the general community are encouraged to come out and support Team TCI!!!
Acting Director of Sports sent well wishes on behalf of the department of sports we support this event 100%. Sonia have made history again for sports in the Turks and Caicos, she has raised the bar for women in sports and sports tourism.
Russia's Vladimir Putin 'to respect' Ukraine vote
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine's presidential election.
Speaking in St Petersburg, he said Russia was prepared to work with whoever was elected Ukraine's president in Sunday's vote.
It is the first time Mr Putin has explicitly indicated that he will accept Ukraine's election result.
Violence in the east, particularly Donetsk and Luhansk, has seriously disrupted preparations for the polls.
Some pro-Russian separatists have warned people against voting, while election officials and voter lists have been seized at gunpoint.
At least 14 government soldiers were killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in the Volnovakha area south of the city of Donetsk on Thursday.
Further clashes were reported on Friday between pro-Russia separatists and self-defence fighters in the Donetsk region, with reports of at least two people killed.
Yingluck Answers Thai Military Summons
Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrived at a military installation in Bangkok on Friday, after she and dozens of political figures were summoned to a meeting with the country's ruling military.
The military seized power in a bloodless coup Thursday, with General Prayuth ChanOcha saying the move was aimed at restoring order and pushing through political reform. The military has also suspended the constitution and imposed a nationwide curfew from 10:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. and shut down several media outlets.
The United States, along with other Western governments, has said the coup was unnecessary. Kristie Kenney, the U.S. ambassador to Thailand, told VOA's Steve Herman on Friday that Washington is concerned about the country's human rights situation.
"The Thais will of course chart their own path. But as Secretary of State [John] Kerry has said, we really do call for an immediate return to a civilian government, the lifting of press restrictions, and respect for human rights and a path to elections."
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in a statement Thursday that there is "no justification" for the coup. Kerry voiced concern about reports that senior Thai political leaders have been detained by the military.
He called for their immediate release and "a return to democracy."
Kerry also warned the takeover will have "negative implications" for U.S. relations with the Thai military.
In a statement today, the military said 155 prominent figures, including ousted government leaders, were banned from leaving the country without permission.
Cameroon, Chad Finalize Boko Haram Security Talks
The presidents of Cameroon and Chad on Friday concluded two days of meetings during which they fine-tuned plans and reiterated commitments to a declaration of war on Nigeria-based Boko Haram militants made in Paris last week.
Addressing a crowd of applauding Chadians and Cameroonians, both presidents vowed cooperation in efforts to monitor and protect the region from violence perpetrated by the Islamist radicals.
"The public enemy Boko Haram has remained a permanent threat to peace and security," Cameroonian President Paul Biya said. "As far as I am concerned, we are to organize with Chad information sharing, joint patrols and information exchange and other surveillance mechanisms because it is a thing we cannot allow to continue."
Chadian President Idriss Deby called Boko Haram an evil force that must be eradicated.
Deputy Premier plays key role in Commonwealth Women’s Parliamentary Conference
The Deputy Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands Hon, Akierra Missick is expected to play a leading role in the three day Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian’s Association International conference, which got underway in Nassau, Bahamas Tuesday 21 to Friday 23 May 2014.
The Hon, Akierra Missick, will close the conference this evening with an address that highlights the achievements of female parliamentarians in the TCI, where they account for 46% of those sitting in the Island’s House of Assembly. She will describe the contribution of women to other key position in TCI society such as the Deputy Governor, the Hon Anya Williams, Attorney General, the Hon Rhondalee Braithwaite-Knowles and the significant role of women in TCI politics, including thanking her predecessors Dr. Rosita Butterfield and Arabella Smith.
The conference is focusing on the topic ‘The Voice, The Vote, The Victory’. It will devise strategies for increasing women’s participation and representation in the parliamentary process, ensuring that there is a fair representation of women’s rights and concerns within their respective countries. Delegates will report next year on progress in bringing new initiatives that will further bring women to the fore across the region.
“Wednesday was a very special day as the senior delegates were invited to the Bahamas Parliament where we were welcomed by Speaker of the House Hon Kendal Major, Ministers Rt. Hon. Glynnes Hanna-Martin, Minister of Transport & Aviation, and the Rt. Hon. Melanie Griffin, Minister of Social Development,” said Deputy Premier Akierra Missick.
"It was rewarding and humbling to meet with and discuss the future of women in politics with women of the stature of the Right Hon. Rebbecca Kadaga, who is chairing the event. She was the first women speaker in the Ugandan parliament, which has 375 members. She is a real trailblazer in a traditional East African patriarchal society, and reminds me of other ground-breakers in the Caribbean such as Jamaican Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson-Miller, the Bahamas’ Dame Marguerite Pindling, and former Bermuda Premier Paula Cox," the Hon. Missick added.
Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson who’s attending that conference as well, also play a key role, having had the honor of moderating a very important Session entitled "The State of The Region: The Way Forward," managing the discussions from the floor and summarising the contributions.
Ahead of leaving for the conference, she said she looked forward to sharing in this experience again as a delegate, having been afforded the opportunity to attend a Meeting of the CWP in 2000 as an Observer and benefitted greatly from the encounter. “It is always good to hear of the issues other women face and to plan the way forward as to how we can make greater contributions particularly in our individual countries and our Region," she said before leaving for the conference.
Deputy Premier Akierra Missick and Opposition Leader Hon. Sharlene Cartwright Robinson are joined at the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarian’s Association International conference by Deputy Clerk to the House of Assembly, Mrs. Lydia Butterfeld.
They are among twenty-six delegates from the region attending the CWP Conference in Nassau, which ends today Friday.
Caribbean Development Bank pleased with S&P’s new ratings
The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) says it welcomes the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) revision of the bank’s outlook from “negative” to “stable” and affirmation of its “AA/A-1+” status on long and short term foreign currency ratings.
The US-based rating agency had earlier this month reviewed the CDB’s 2013 results and that the decision to change the bank’s outlook had been based on the abatement of external liquidity pressures among some of the Bank’s largest borrowers as well as “high capital adequacy with a risk-adjusted capital ratio of 23 per cent as of December 31, 2013 to offset the significant embedded credit risk in its portfolio”.
S&P also noted the CDB’s “strong” business profile and its “very strong” financial profile as well as its role as a prominent lender in the Caribbean and ability to lend to sovereigns through the credit cycle.
CDB also maintains a strong “Aa1” rating with Moody’s Rating Agency which in November 2013 revised the Bank’s outlook from “negative” to “stable”.
No plans to devalue the local currency in TNT
The Trinidad and Tobago government says there are no plans to devalue the local currency as the main opposition People’s National Movement (PNM) called for an end to the new system of foreign currency allocation that it claims could lead to the creation of a black market that would eventually lead to a devaluation of the local currency.
Finance Minister Larry Howai told reporters that there was more than sufficient foreign reserves to deal with the needs of the country and that the foreign exchange reserves had continued to increase and was estimated at TT$10.3 billion (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents), which was more than 12 months of import cover.
He said the issue was the new system put in place by the Central Bank.
Source-Carib360
Haiti launches multimillion-dollar project to address poverty
Haiti has launched a multimillion-dollar programme aimed at reducing poverty in the French-speaking Caribbean Community country.
Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe said the plan will help better coordinate actions by different ministerial departments and institutions, non-government organisations and international donors in order to have greater impact and reach more effectively the most vulnerable.
"There are international organisations and donors, such as the World Bank, that are intervening, but there was a lack of coordination in the different actions being undertaken," Lamothe told the Haitian news website, HCNN.
"Now we have a common strategy through which we want to put everyone together behind one plan, which is the Action Plan for the Reduction of Poverty in Haiti," said Lamothe.
The plan is estimated to cost U$800 million over a three-year period and Prime Minister Lamothe said it is part of the country's efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in terms of reducing poverty, improving education, among other MDGs.
Two years ago, the Michel Martelly Government set up an ambitious social assistance programme which has already reached several million people through cash transfers to poor families, hot meals, community restaurants, food kits, tuition-free education for poor kids, among other initiatives.
The programme is mainly funded by funds generated by the Venezuelan-sponsored PetroCaribe oil deal.