PM defends monetary gifts to athletes
PRIME Minister Portia Simpson Miller has stoutly defended the decision to financially reward the country's medallists at the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games.
A weekend of feting the athletes for their performances in the British capital began on Sunday with a church service at the East Queen Baptist Church and a cocktail reception at Jamaica House during which Simpson Miller told the Jamaica Observer that it was not a unilateral decision.
"We had to find a way and it was a broad-based committee with a number of Jamaicans, and that was the recommendation that came back to us and we felt that once we had consultation by a committee that came up with the decision," she said.
"I don't think there is anything that could be too great a contribution that we cannot make to our sportsmen and women who continue to bring glory to our homeland," the Prime Minister added.
Jamaica won 12 medals — four gold, four silver, and four bronze — in London, while Alphanso Cunningham won a gold medal in the javelin at the Paralympic Games.
"They've made it 'Jamaica to the world' and added significant value to brand Jamaica," Simpson Miller said.
Each athlete who won a gold medal will earn $1 million, silver medal winners get $675,000, and bronze medallists get $500,000.
Each athlete making a final will earn $350,000, while each participant will take home $250,000.
Sunday evening's function was attended by several of the medallists, including 100m and 200m silver medallist Yohan Blake, 200m bronze medal winner Warren Weir and women's 100m bronze medallist Veronica Campbell-Brown.
JamaicaObserver
Patterson to be honoured by Parliament Oct 30
FORMER Prime Minister PJ Patterson is to be honoured by Parliament at another special joint sitting of both Houses, scheduled for Gordon House on Tuesday, October 30.
Patterson was elected as Jamaica's sixth prime minister in 1992, succeeding Michael Manley, and served in that position and as leader of the People's National Party (PNP) until 2006 when he gave way to the current prime minister, Portia Simpson Miller.
He is Jamaica's longest serving prime minister and the only one to be re-elected on three successive occasions, winning general elections in 1993, 1997 and 2002.
This will be the second occasion this month that Parliament will be celebrating a former prime minister for contributing to Jamaica's post-Independence development, following last Tuesday's special joint sitting honouring Edward Seaga who served from 1980 to 1989.
The October 30 meeting, as was the case last week, will be hosted by the House of Representatives and will commence at 2:00 pm.
In the meantime, Gordon House has released an agenda for today's sitting, highlighted by the debate on extending the provisions of the Mutual Assistance (Criminal Matters) Act, which allows for the extradition of persons between countries, to British territories in the Caribbean including Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The House will also commence debates on three Bills: The Judicature (Supreme Court) (Validation and Amendment) Act, 2012; The Legal Profession (Amendment) Act, 2012; and the Consumer Protection (Amendment) Act, 2012.
JA.Observer
Tropical Storm Rafael unleashes winds and rain on Virgin Islands, heads toward Bermuda
Tropical Storm Rafael unleashed heavy rain and powerful gusts on the Virgin Islands early Sunday and could turn into a hurricane by Monday, forecasters said.
With sustained winds of 50 mph, Rafael could get even stronger as it bears down on several islands popular with tourists. As of 5 a.m. ET, Rafael was centered about 100 miles north-northwest of St. Marten, the National Hurricane Center in Miami said. The storm was moving north-northwest at 13 mph and is expected to turn northward by Monday.
A projection map shows Rafael headed toward Bermuda later this week.
A tropical storm warning is in effect for Anguilla. Tropical storm warnings that had been in effect for the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, St. Marten, Antigua, Barbuda, St. Kitts and Guadeloupe were discontinued Sunday morning.
Forecasters expect Rafael to leave between 3 to 5 inches of rain over the Lesser Antilles and Virgin Islands, with some pockets getting as much as 10 inches.
The storm could impact rescue efforts for two men and one woman whose small aircraft crashed Saturday morning about six nautical miles (7 miles) south of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Coast Guard spokesman Ricardo Castrodad said.
They were aboard a twin-engine Piper PA-23 that left St. Croix destined for St. Thomas, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
Rescue crews from the Coast Guard and U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Natural Resources saved one female passenger, Valerie Jackson, who told them three others were still unaccounted for.
A Coast Guard cutter ship, two helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft have been dispatched from Puerto Rico for the search, Castrodad said. The effort continued Saturday night despite what the Coast Guard spokesman said were deteriorating conditions due to Rafael.
CNN
Cuba to end exit permits for foreign travel
Cuba has announced it is removing the need for its citizens to obtain exit permits before travelling abroad.
State media said the move, to come into effect on 14 January next year, would "update" migration laws to reflect current and future circumstances.
Cubans currently have to go through a lengthy and expensive process to obtain a permit and dissidents are often denied one, correspondents say.
The move is the latest in a series of reforms under President Raul Castro.
Cubans who have permanent residency on the island will also be allowed to stay abroad for up to 24 months, instead of the current 11, without having to return to renew paperwork.
The BBC's Sarah Rainsford, in Havana, says the exit permit process is hated by most Cubans so this reform, which was much anticipated, will be widely welcomed.
Cuba previously saw people attempting to leave the country as traitors or enemies of the revolution, says our correspondent, but official recognition is growing that many Cubans want to leave for economic reasons and that the country can benefit from the cash and knowledge they bring back with them.
Now all that Cubans will need to leave is a valid passport and a visa.
However, the new law still argues for the need to protect Cuba's "human capital", our correspondent adds, so highly-qualified professionals like doctors, will continue to face extra hurdles to travel.
Government critics are also likely to experience further difficulties, as passport updates can be denied for "reasons of public interest defined by the authorities".
The restrictions have failed to prevent hundreds of thousands of Cubans emigrating illegally in the past few decades, many of them to the US where they have formed a strongly anti-Havana diaspora.
The US grants automatic residency to anyone who reaches it from Cuba.
Brink of war
For nearly half a century, Cuba was run as a command economy, with almost all activity controlled by the state.
But under President Raul Castro, who took over from his ailing brother Fidel in 2008, it has gradually eased restrictions in many areas of politics, business and society.
The latest reform comes on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, the closest the world has ever come to nuclear war as the US and the Soviet Union nearly went to war over Soviet missiles placed on the island.
But the crisis was resolved diplomatically when the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a US promise not to invade Cuba.
However the relationship between Cuba and the US remains hostile - they have no diplomatic relations and an American economic blockade of the era is still in effect.
Cuba has struggled economically since the collapse of the Soviet Union and now relies heavily on the support of the left-wing government of Venezuela.
Clico lawyers fired and replaced
One year and three months into the Commission of Enquiry into collapsed insurance giant CLICO, the Minister of Finance has fired the team of lawyers who were representing the ministry, sources confirmed yesterday.
According to a report in the Sunday Express the team which was headed by Senior Counsel Fyard Hosein and Michael Quamina, were given their marching orders last week. They had been hired during Winston Dookeran's tenure at the Finance Ministry.
They have been replaced by Seenath Jairam SC leading Jagdeo Singh and Joseph Toney. Jairam is president of the Law Association.
Singh who has been the beneficiary of a number of State briefs, is also the junior attorney for the Commission in the Commission of Enquiry into the 1990 coup attempt.
Toney is chairman of the Congress of the People, a member of the People's Partnership government. Hosein yesterday confirmed that he is no longer counsel to the Ministry of Finance.
"My services have been terminated. No reason was given. And it has been terminated summarily, full stop."
Hosein has had a long history with the Ministry on the CLICO matter. Hosein was retained by the Ministry of Finance in February 2009 following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between CLICO and the government.
He had been retained to advise the ministry where it should go from there.
In March 2009, he was retained to file an injunction to prevent former CLICO chairman Lawrence Duprey from selling the shares in the CL Financial group's methanol company.
The enquiry, which began in July 2011, has been going on for over a year and is due to be completed in May next year. The Commission resumes on October 22 when the change of attorneys will become evident. The Commission is supposed to spend three days on the Hindu Credit Union, before returning to ClICO on October 25 or 26.
Express
Controversy over Wyclef's charity money for Haiti
Wyclef Jean is facing an investigation into what happened to money he raised for victims of the Haiti earthquake.
The former Fugees star started a campaign after 230,000 people died in the disaster in 2010.
Two years later though there's controversy about how those funds were spent.
It's estimated the 42-year-old rapper, who was born in the country, helped raise millions of pounds for the Yele Haiti charity.
With help from some of his celebrity friends like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, it's estimated he raised millions of dollars.
Yele Haiti folded as a company this summer with questions about how the money was spent.
US newspaper the New York Times claims a large amount went on luxury travel, offices and food.
It's also been claimed the charity employed people on inflated contracts.
Wyclef Jean has responded to the claims via his Facebook page, posting images of himself and charity workers in Haiti.
In a statement from his legal team, the rapper's promised to help with any investigation into the charity's accounts.
In 2010, he unsuccessfully bid to become Haiti's president.
It was rejected because the Haitian constitution requires candidates to have lived in the country for five years prior to an election.
Portugal reveals tough 2013 budget
The Portuguese government has revealed details of its draft budget for 2013, one of the harshest in the country's recent history.
Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar confirmed the average income tax rise would increase from 9.8% in 2012 to 13.2% next year.
Portugal was granted a 78bn-euro ($100bn; £63bn) bailout last year.
Mr Gaspar said the budget was the only way for the country to meet its targets under the bailout.
"We have no room for manoeuvre," he said.
"Asking for more time [under the bailout] would lead us to a dictatorship of debt and to failure."
He also announced spending cuts worth 2.7bn euros next year, which would include laying off 2% of the country's 600,000 public sector employees.
About 2,000 protesters gathered outside parliament on Monday to demand the resignation of the government, chanting: "The people united will never be defeated."
Mr Gaspar said the budget would allow Portugal to reduce its budget deficit to 4.5% in 2013. It must eventually get its deficit below the European Union target of 3% of GDP.
Portugal is currently experiencing its worst recession since the 1970s, with the unemployment rate above 15%, and predicted to rise to 16.4% next year.
Opposition Socialist Party leader Antonio Jose Seguro described the draft budget as "a fiscal atomic bomb".
Portugal's main trade union, the CGTP, said it was "an attack on the dignity of the people" and daily newspaper Diario Economico declared it "an insult to the Portuguese people".
Wages hit
As in Spain and Greece, Portugal has seen huge street protests against the austerity cuts that are needed to meet the demands of the bailout.
In September, the government decided not to raise social security contributions next year from 11% to 18% after protests against the proposed move.
A general strike is planned for 14 November.
The income tax rise in the budget amounts to a month's wages for many workers.
The budget also reduces Portugal's income tax brackets from eight to five, and there will be a one-off 4% surcharge tax on all workers' earnings in 2013.
Capital gains tax will increase from 25% to 28%.
The government expects the economy to shrink by at least 3% this year and by 1% next year, although many economists forecast a greater contraction in 2013.
Yahoo appoints Google's Henrique de Castro as COO
Yahoo has appointed Google executive Henrique de Castro as its next chief operating officer (COO), the second big name it has hired from its rival in recent months.
Earlier this year, it appointed former Google executive Marissa Mayer as its chief executive.
In a statement, Yahoo said Mr De Castro will oversee global sales, operations, media and business development.
Yahoo has been trying to rebuild itself after falling behind its rivals.
Yahoo was one of the pioneers in internet search and email and continues to remain one of the biggest names in the industry.
However, it has been losing ground as it has not been able to keep with the likes of Google in the search engine area.
At the same time, its email business has been hurt the by the growing popularity and success of social networking websites such as Facebook.
The continued success of its rivals has meant that Yahoo has been facing tough competition in attracting advertisers to its portals.
Yahoo's share of US online advertising revenues fell to 9.5% last year, down from 15.7% in 2009.
However, Yahoo's chief executive Ms Mayer said the new COO's prior experience would help boost the firm's business and revenues.
"His operational experience in internet advertising and his proven success in structuring and scaling global organizations make him the perfect fit for Yahoo as we propel the business to its next phase of growth," said Ms Mayer, chief executive of Yahoo.
According to Yahoo's filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr De Castro will be paid an annual salary of $600,000 (£373,000). He will also be eligible for an annual bonus of up to 90% of that amount.
He will also receive a cash bonus of $1m within one week of joining Yahoo and will be given restricted stock units and performance-based stock options totalling $56m over four years.
is is a pivotal point in Yahoo's history, and I believe strongly in the opportunity ahead," Mr Castro said.
Softbank to take control of Sprint Nextel for $20bn
Japanese mobile phone company Softbank is to buy 70% of US carrier Sprint Nextel for $20.1bn (£12.5bn).
The deal will be the biggest overseas acquisition by a Japanese firm.
The takeover of the number three mobile carrier in the US will make Softbank one of the world's three biggest mobile phone operators, with 96 million users.
But Japanese investors have not welcomed the widely-expected deal. Softbank shares fell 6% on Monday on top of the 16.9% they lost on Friday.
About $12bn of the money will go to Sprint shareholders, with the rest being used to strengthen its balance sheet.
If it is approved by shareholders and regulators, the companies expect to complete the transaction by the middle of 2013.
"Our track record of innovation, combined with Sprint's strong brand and local leadership, provides a constructive beginning toward creating a more competitive American mobile market," said Softbank's chairman and chief executive Masayoshi Son.
"It could be safe if you do nothing and our challenge in the US is not going to be easy at all," Mr Son told a news conference.
"We must enter a new market, one with a different culture, and we must start again from zero after all we have built. But not taking this challenge will be a bigger risk."
Under the terms of the deal, Dan Hesse is to stay in his job as chief executive of Sprint.
It is reported that the transaction is being funded entirely by loans from four banks: Mizuho Financial, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial, Mitsubishi UFJ and Deutsche Bank.
There has been some concern from analysts about the amount of additional debt being taken on.
Sprint has lost money in each of the past 19 quarters and has net debt of about $15bn, while Softbank already has net debt of about $10bn.
Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has warned that the deal, "may undermine Softbank's financial risk profile".
It has placed Softbank's debt on CreditWatch with negative implications.
Greek Austerity Talks Remain Stalemated
Greece says negotiations with its international lenders over the country's latest austerity plan are unlikely to be concluded before this week's European Union summit.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said Monday Greek officials are still talking with representatives of the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the EU. But he said he did not think a deal would be finished before the two-day Brussels summit opens Thursday.
Greece's lenders have been demanding that it cut $17 billion in spending over the next two years before they will release another segment of the country's second bailout in two years. Athens says it needs the money before it runs out of cash next month, so it can meet its financial obligations.
Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Greece's financial woes will not lead to any “uncontrollable developments” in the 17-nation euro currency bloc. But she said the Greek government still has a significant amount of work to do to solve its problems.
“We want Greece to stay in the eurozone, but our work is not yet over. There is much to do in coming days and weeks.''