Jay-Z fighting to release man from 20-year jail sentence over weed
According to legal documents obtained by The New York Post, the rapper's legal team has attempted not once, but twice, to get Valon Vailes released from prison. Vailes, 55, is currently serving a 20-year sentence in North Carolina with an additional 10-year supervised release for marijuana-related charges.
The newspaper reports that attorney Alex Spiro filed a motion on Wednesday asking a North Carolina judge for the "compassionate release" of Vailes after the first request was denied due to his COVID-19 vaccination status.
Spiro argued, "Mr. Vailes’ motion for compassionate release does not mention COVID-19 and does not rely on any COVID-19-related argument as a basis for arguing in favor of a reduced sentence."
Vailes was found guilt by a jury in December 2007 for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute more than a one ton of marijuana from 2003 to 2007. He first gained the attention of Jay-Z's legal team after penning a letter to the rapper, who owns the cannibis company Monogram.
In the letter, a copy of which the New York Post obtained, Vailes wrote, "This correspondence is a plea to ask for your help with the intent to campaign for my clemency...My family needs me home."
Vailes also mentions that he has followed the "Empire State of Mind" rapper's career and admires his advocacy for the "underprivileged and voiceless."
Spiro is asking that the judge release Vailes on a sentence of time served.
“It is unjust to allow Mr. Vailes to remain in prison when, if sentenced under the current law, and with his good behavior credits, he would have already been released," Spiro concluded.
Source - ABC
Amazon's algorithms taken to task in landmark bill
The methods Amazon and other employers use to monitor, reward and discipline warehouse workers are being shaken up in California.
State governor Gavin Newsom has signed a bill prohibiting the workers from being fired for failing to meet a quota that does not allow for rest breaks.
Amazon workers have complained of having to work gruelling hours, with harsh penalties for being "off task".
The online retailer has not commented on the new law.
Bathroom facilities
The bill, the first of its kind, comes into force in January 2022.
Companies will have to detail the number of tasks they expect warehouse workers to complete within a certain timeframe and any penalties for failing to do so."An employee shall not be required to meet a quota that prevents compliance with meal or rest periods, use of bathroom facilities, or occupational health and safety laws," the bill says.
Its pay and benefits are considered generous for the industry.
Amazon has about 150,000 employees in California.
'Arduous workloads'
But some complain conditions are not and arduous workloads create mental and physical problems.
One of its most controversial policies is time off task (TOT).
Amazon's algorithms calculate which hours of a shift are off task, based on the number of items scanned, with penalties for those who underperform. Previously, the system had sent an alert if workers were off task for half an hour.
But in June, Amazon tweaked its policy to average scanned items over a longer period.
At the time of the change, worldwide operations vice-president Dave Clark blogged the tool "could be easily misunderstood" but was primarily to "understand whether there are issues with the tools that people use to be productive" and only secondarily to identify underperforming employees.
One of the biggest criticisms of Amazon is its use of technology, including a large number of robots, dehumanises workers.
It uses an array of technology to keep an eye on workers, including cameras in delivery vans and an app that monitors driving.
'Union-busting tactics'
In April, workers in Bessemer, Alabama, voted for the first time on whether they wanted to be represented by the National Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).
The vote went against the union but amid allegations Amazon had used union-busting tactics, including:
altering a traffic-light system outside the warehouse to give union officials less time to leaflet workers
bombarding workers with texts, posters and signs encouraging them to vote no
The National Labour Relations Board found enough evidence Amazon had interfered with the process to warrant a second vote, yet to be held.
RWDSU president Stuart Applebaum welcomed the new California legislation but said a union contract "is better".
Transparency about what warehouses required of its workers was needed, he said, but "many other issues" had to be addressed.
In June, the US Teamsters Union announced it was also aiming to recruit Amazon workers.
Source - BBC
YouTube to remove all anti-vaccine misinformation
YouTube has said it will remove content that spreads misinformation about all approved vaccines, expanding a ban on false claims about Covid-19 jabs.
Videos that say approved vaccines are dangerous and cause autism, cancer or infertility are among those that will be taken down, the company said.
The policy includes the termination of accounts of anti-vaccine influencers.
Tech giants have been criticised for not doing more to counter false health information on their sites.
In July, US President Joe Biden said social media platforms were largely responsible for people's scepticism in getting vaccinated by spreading misinformation, and appealed for them to address the issue.
YouTube, which is owned by Google, said 130,000 videos were removed from its platform since last year, when it implemented a ban on content spreading misinformation about Covid vaccines.
In a blog post, the company said it had seen false claims about Covid jabs "spill over into misinformation about vaccines in general". The new policy covers long-approved vaccines, such as those against measles or hepatitis B.
"We're expanding our medical misinformation policies on YouTube with new guidelines on currently administered vaccines that are approved and confirmed to be safe and effective by local health authorities and the WHO," the post said, referring to the World Health Organization.
Personal testimonies relating to vaccines, content about vaccine policies, new vaccine trials, and historical videos about vaccine successes or failures will be allowed to remain on the site, the company said.
The move follows a similar ban introduced by Facebook in February, targeting false claims that vaccines are not effective or cause autism, among others. But since then the company has faced challenges in enforcing it.
In March, Twitter announced that users who repeatedly shared misinformation about vaccines would be banned from the platform.
Source - BBC
House of Assembly
Reminder the House of Assembly will meet at 10am on the 30/09/2021. Coverage of that meeting can be heard right here on Radio Turks & Caicos.
The Turks & Caicos Islands Limitation of Actions Bill 2021 is up for its second and third reading. A number of amendments have been made to several pieces of legislation, including the National Insurance regulations, Public and Environmental Health COVID-19 regulations, Customs legislation, and legislation governing the Ports Authority and Airports Authority.
UK Petrol supply shortage: Army will be delivering fuel in days
Soldiers will be delivering fuel in the next couple of days in a bid to ease petrol supply issues, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng has said.
Kwasi Kwarteng admitted that the past few days - which have seen long queues outside petrol stations and some pumps running dry - haave been "difficult".
However, he has denied that there was a crisis in UK fuel supplies and said the situation was "stabilising".
Some 150 military drivers are ready to drive the fuel tankers.
Another 150 Army personnel are ready to support them.
The government had put the Army on standby in case the fuel situation worsened, but on Wednesday morning Mr Kwarteng revealed that ministers had decided to deploy troops to drive tankers "in the next couple of days".
He also revealed that a number of the government's 80 reserve fuel tankers will take to the road this afternoon - with civilians driving the trucks from their depots in Cambridgeshire and West Yorkshire.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy acknowledged this would not make a huge difference but said it was a positive development.
On Tuesday, speaking for the first time since issues began, Prime Minister Boris Johnson also sought to reassure drivers about supplies, saying that people should be "confident" to go about their business.
He said he was not seeking to prioritise essential workers at pumps because things were "stabilising". Sir Keir Starmer used his first in-person conference speech as Labour leader on Wednesday to criticise the government's handling of fuel supply issues.
Referring to the government's flagship "levelling up" policy to lower regional inequalities, he said: "Level up, you can't even fill up."
He accused the government of ignoring the issues, blaming others and delivering "half-baked" solutions with "no plan in place". Mr Starmer urged the PM to "either get a grip or get out of the way and let us step up to clear up this mess".
James Spencer, managing director at fuel supplier Portland Fuel, said the UK was over the worst of the situation and sending in the Army would "generate more panic".
"Under normal circumstances supply can easily meet demand," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. He added that now many people had filled up their tanks, there might be a "dip in demand".
Fuel supplies are plentiful at refineries but a shortage of tanker drivers caused problems with deliveries to a small number of filling stations last week.
Reports of pumps running dry at some garages then subsequently led to a surge in demand.
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) said there were "encouraging signs" the pressure was starting to ease at the pumps, with forecourts taking further fuel deliveries.
The PRA, which represents nearly 5,500 of the UK's 8,000 stations, said 27% of sites had run out of fuel on Wednesday - compared with two-thirds being without on Sunday.
Brian Madderson, PRA chairman, told BBC News that while there were "less queues [and] panic buying" there was still "unusually heavy demand". He said "one or two" petrol station groups were reporting fewer dry sites than on Tuesday.
It would take more than "a day or a few days" to fully replenish stocks at all UK forecourts, he said, but there was still "plenty to go round".
Sainsbury's, which has 315 filling stations, said it was still "experiencing high demand for fuel" and that "all our sites continue to receive fuel".
A hypothetical analysis by BBC Two's Newsnight estimated that it would take about eight days for every vehicle in the UK to fill up under current higher levels of demand.
But the Times reported industry sources as saying disruption could "continue for weeks" because of the time it will take to restock petrol stations.
And Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Driver Association, said that the situation was "not getting better", with 25% to 30% of his members unable to work on Tuesday because they could not get fuel.
He called for an essential users list to be brought in to "take the sting out of this crisis".
Meanwhile, car use in Britain this week fell to its lowest level for a working Monday since 12 July, suggesting some drivers have reduced the amount they are driving due to fuel supply issues.
The figures from the Department for Transport showed car traffic was at 91% of pre-pandemic levels on Monday, compared with 97% a week earlier.
Source - BBC
United Airlines to fire staff who refuse vaccine
Nearly 600 United Airlines employees face being fired after failing to comply with the firm's Covid-19 vaccination policy.
The vast majority of its 67,000 US staff have supplied proof of vaccination, which was required by Monday.
"This was an incredibly difficult decision," its bosses said in a memo to employees.
The Chicago-based airline set out its Covid requirements for staff in August.
Its US employees had to upload proof of vaccination, or the first of two jabs, by the deadline on Monday.
The 593 workers who have refused a coronavirus vaccine and have not applied for an exemption on religious or medical grounds now face losing their jobs.
United bets on travel boom with big plane order
US lifts Covid travel ban on UK and EU citizens
"Our rationale for requiring the vaccine for all United's US-based employees was simple - to keep our people safe - and the truth is this: everyone is safer when everyone is vaccinated, and vaccine requirements work," its chief executive Scott Kirby and president Brett Hart said on Tuesday.
"This was an incredibly difficult decision but keeping our team safe has always been our first priority," they said.
Some of those employees could be kept on if they have been jabbed and have simply failed to submit proof of vaccination - or if they are vaccinated before formal meetings on the matter, the company said.
United said it would follow the rules outlined in union agreements on the dismissals. The process could take weeks or months.
A further 2,000 employees have requested an exemption to the policy.
It previously said it would put those who are exempt on temporary, unpaid leave from 2 October. But those plans were put on hold after a lawsuit was filed by six employees challenging the policy.
Fiona Cincotta, market analyst at City Index, told the BBC's Today programme that the "strict" policy was not likely to be introduced by UK airlines.
Like many companies in the aviation sector, United was severely hit by pandemic-related travel restrictions.
At the height of the crisis, it announced that it would need to furlough up to 36,000 staff.
It denied, however, that its vaccine policy would affect recruitment going forward, although vaccination will be a condition of hire for new staff.
On Tuesday it said that it had received more than 20,000 applications for about 2,000 flight attendant jobs.
Elsewhere in the US, few airlines have introduced vaccine mandates for its staff. Delta Airlines, for example, has announced a $200 (£148) monthly health insurance surcharge for those who are not jabbed.
Source - BBC
Barbados Parliament gives green light to republican status
Prime Minister Mia Mottley says much thought has gone into the decision to transition Barbados to a parliamentary republic, even as Opposition Leader, Bishop Joseph Atherley, raised concerns over the legality of the government’s intended move, despite declaring full support for the impending status.
Parliament voted by a 25-0 margin to amend the Constitution (Amendment) Bill to bring the Republic into force by November 30.
Prime Minister Mottley told legislators that her administration was not rushing into republicanism and that talks regarding the transition began more than two decades ago.
“There can be no rush, therefore, about this Act. This Act has taken long in coming and if we go back, we agreed that there are aspects that are certainly worthy of consultation and that is the majority of the work that relates to the Constitution, we get that and we are committed to that.”
She described as a “simple but functional bill” the constitutional amendment would revoke the Barbados Order of 1966 as an Order in Council of Her Majesty while keeping complete the Barbados Constitution.
The amendment makes provision for a Barbadian to be a Head of State, change the oath of allegiance from that to Her Majesty to now the state of Barbados and to ensure continuity in all of the other aspects of the functioning of the state of Barbados through offices, appointments and commissions.
“This has been a conversation that has been taking place since December 1998. The fact that I was part of the cabinet that agreed to the establishment of this Commission explains why I have so much grey hair now because it has been a long journey. It has been a long journey.
“Indeed one of my greatest regrets is that while there are a few who are still with us the majority of persons who served on this Commission and, in fact the Cox Commission, before have gone to the Great Beyond.”
The government said that the change would bring to an end a British head of state of Barbados ever since English settlers landed here in 1625 and claimed the island for King James I and Prime Minister Mottley maintained that the time had come for the transition as Barbados needed to be in complete control of all of its affairs.
She dismissed any notion that Barbados would change its name.
“What it does is allow us to close the circle with respect to independence and move to another state of our development thereby allowing Barbadians to say to the world that we have the confidence in ourselves to be completely responsible for who we are and what we do and what we say and all that surrounds itself with the nation of Barbados.
“This bill does nothing else but seek to make a Bajan the head of state of Barbados and is as simple as that because that is the lacuna that will take us from one point to another. By also revoking the Order in Council we make the clear statement that we want to be in control of our affairs as a Republic.
“Without that we will continue to always have doubts in the mind of our people as to whether we are truly independent and to whether we are truly in charge of our own destiny because if we have to send to [Buckingham] Palace in order to confer honours, or we have to send to the Palace in order to appoint an Ambassador to a non-Commonwealth country then we do not and cannot say that all power resides and locates within the nation state of Barbados and it is as simple as that.”
She told legislators that together with Atherley they will make a joint nomination for the election of a president of Barbados and a date will then be set for that election and that she expects the process to take place this month.
Barbadians will also be notified as to when the new head of state would be sworn in.
But in his contribution, Atherley raised concerns over the legality of government’s intended move to republican status, despite declaring full support for the move
The Opposition Leader citing unnamed members of the legal profession, said the manner in which government was proceeding to move Barbados from a realm to a republic with a Barbadian Head of State could be unlawful.
Atherley said he was not attacking the government but merely wanted the transition to republican status to be done the right way.
“The Prime Minister said the government has been advised by prominent persons who we have saluted and honoured; Sir David Simmons, Sir Dennis Byron, Justice Sherman Moore, and I have no doubt that the government of Barbados would come to proposing this to the House on the basis of good, legal advice.
“All I am saying is that they are equally prominent persons, legally experienced, trained and acclaimed who are of the view that this is inappropriate,” The Opposition Leader said, adding “I’ve spoken to a number of legal people who hold very strongly to the view that it is inappropriate for the Barbados Parliament to seek to undertake an action that results in what we perceive to be the revocation of an Order in Council of the UK Parliament.
“Can the Barbados Parliament revoke an Order in Council of the UK Parliament?”
Atherley said he did not want a situation where the Barbados government found itself before the law court because it had erred in its procedure.
“We are exposed if we get it wrong. We expose ourselves to legal challenges brought pursuant to or consequent upon any action that we take as a people under the Constitution if it is proven we got it wrong.”
Atherley also opposed the timing to become a republic describing it as “the wrong moment” as Barbados continued to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, questioning whether government had an alternative agenda in ensuring the transition was done speedily.
“I support the move to republic, I support the nomination when it comes in the appropriate format and time but I believe very strongly that we are doing this at the wrong time and that the process leaves much to be desired. I believe they are many out there of the view that we are not getting this right when it comes to the process.
“Beyond the constitutional and legal arguments it is a bad moment with COVID. It is not the right moment. We do not know what next year will bring, we may still be faced down with COVID. I would prefer to believe that by the middle of next year this thing would be gone.”
He also said the November 30 date for the transition was inappropriate as it could diminish the work of Errol Barrow, the Father of Independence.
He suggested that July 26, 2022, coinciding with the Day of National Significance that memorialises the 1937 Disturbances, would be most appropriate.
“I believe frankly that the better date is July 26. We call it a Day of National Significance. It is to me, among blacks, the majority class in Barbados the birth of consciousness, it is the birth of an identity which was evolving and which has set us on a path to this moment and that the move to Republic when we get there, culminates for me what began in the 1930’s and on July 26, 1937,” said Bishop Atherley.
China, Big spender or loan shark?
China hands out at least twice as much development money as the US and other major powers, new evidence shows, with most of it coming in the form of risky high-interest loans from Chinese state banks.
The sheer amount of Chinese lending is startling. Not too long ago China received foreign aid, but now the tables have turned.
Over an 18-year period, China has granted or loaned money to 13,427 infrastructure projects worth $843bn across 165 countries, according to the AidData research lab at William & Mary, a university in the US state of Virginia.
Much of this money is linked to Chinese President Xi Jinping's ambitious Belt and Road strategy. Starting in 2013, it leverages China's expertise in infrastructure projects, and ample foreign currency, to build new global trading routes.
However, critics fear that the high-interest loans funding many Chinese projects are saddling unsuspecting populations in sky-high debt.
And that's news even to Chinese officials themselves. The AidData researchers - who have spent four years tracing all of China's global lending and spending - say that Chinese government ministries are regularly going to them for information on how Chinese money is being used overseas.
"We hear from public officials in China all the time, saying 'Look, you're in the only game in town'," explains Brad Parks, executive director of AidData. "They say: 'We can't get our hands on this data internally'."
A twisting railway running between China and the neighbouring country of Laos is often touted as a prime example of China's off-the-books lending.
For decades, politicians wondered about building such a connection - linking landlocked south-west China directly to South East Asia.
However, engineers warned the cost would be prohibitive: tracks would need to run through steep mountains, requiring dozens of bridges and tunnels. Laos is one of the poorest countries in the region and couldn't afford even a fraction of the cost.
Enter China's ambitious bankers: with backing from a group of Chinese state companies and a consortium of Chinese state lenders, the $5.9bn railway is set to begin operations in December.
However, Laos had to take out a $480m loan with a Chinese bank to fund its small part of the equity. One of Laos' few sources of profit, the proceeds of its potash mines, were used to back the massive loan.
"The loan that China's Eximbank made to cover part of the equity really showcases the urgency of the Chinese state to push through the project," explains Wanjing Kelly Chen, research assistant professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Most of the line is owned by the Chinese-dominated railway group, but under the murky terms of the deal, the Laotian government is ultimately responsible for the railway's debt. The imbalanced deal has led international creditors to downgrade Laos' credit rating to "junk" status.
In September 2020, on the brink of bankruptcy, Laos sold a major asset to China, handing over part of its energy grid for $600m in order to seek debt relief from Chinese creditors. And this is all before the railway has even begun operations.
The Laos railway is far from the only risky project that Chinese state banks have funded - and yet, AidData says China remains the financier of first resort for many low and middle income countries.
"In an average year, China's international development finance commitments amount to about $85bn. And by comparison, the US is spending about $37bn in any given year to support global development activities," says Brad Parks.
China has vastly outpaced all other countries in development financing, but the way in which Beijing has reached that level is "extraordinary", AidData says.
China might soon face some international lending competition. At a G7 meeting in June, the US and its allies announced the G7 adopts spending plan to rival China's influence, which promises to fund global infrastructure projects that are financially and environmentally sustainable.
However, the plan might simply have come along too late.
"I'm sceptical that Western initiatives will make much of a dent in the Chinese programme," says David Dollar, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and the former US Treasury representative in China.
"[Those new initiatives] will not have enough real money to address the scale of infrastructure needs in the developing world. Also, working with Western official financiers is bureaucratic and subject to long delays."
The AidData researchers found that the Belt and Road project is facing its own issues. BRI projects were more likely to be associated with corruption, labour scandals or environmental issues than other Chinese development deals.
In order to keep the BRI on track, researchers say, Beijing will have no choice but to address borrowers' concerns.
Source - BBC
No Time to Die gets royal reception at Royal Albert Hall premiere
British royalty mixed with Hollywood royalty Tuesday night in London on the red carpet of the world premiere of the latest James Bond movie, No Time to Die.
Prince William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, joined William's father, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, for a night out at the premiere.
The royal foursome walked the red carpet at London's Royal Albert Hall, where they watched a special screening of the movie, the 25th in the James Bond series and the last that will see Daniel Craig starring as Bond.
The royals were joined at the screening by health care workers and members of the Armed Forces, who were invited in appreciation for their service during the pandemic.
Before watching the film, William, Kate, Charles and Camilla met with the stars of the movie -- including Craig, Rami Malek, Léa Seydoux and Lashana Lynch -- as well as the movie's screenwriters and members of the crew, according to Clarence House.
The royals were also scheduled to meet with Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell, who perform the movie's theme song.
The night out was a rare joint appearance for William, Kate, Charles and Camilla. The last time the two couples attended an engagement together was February 2020, when they visited a veterans' rehabilitation center together in Northern England.
The royals, though, are no strangers to the Bond movie franchise.
In 2015, William, president of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and Kate were joined by William's brother, Prince Harry, at the premiere of Craig's penultimate Bond adventure, Spectre.
Source - ABC
Skerritt and Hinds pay tribute to Khan
Cricket West Indies (CWI) president Ricky Skerritt and West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) president Wavell Hinds paid tribute to former CWI marketing and communications manager, Imran Khan.
Khan died on Tuesday from complications related to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). He was 42.
He was the chief communications officer for the Leader of Opposition in his native Guyana, Joseph Harmon, and spent the last week in the intensive care unit of a COVID-19 hospital on the outskirts of the Guyana capital, Georgetown, where he died. He was not vaccinated.
Before returning to Guyana to get into active politics with the A Partnership for National Unity-Alliance for Change (APNU+AFC) coalition, Khan held several posts in and around West Indies cricket, including media relations officer for the Windies team, where we worked closely with Skerritt as manager and Hinds as player.
Skerritt said: “Imran loved cricket and he loved working with the Caribbean cricket media who highly regarded him and his work.
“I had the opportunity to work with Imran when I served as West Indies team manager several years ago. I found him to be a skillful professional and an effective servant of West Indies cricket.
“He continued to be an ardent team supporter even after he left CWI to return home to his native Guyana. I have had the privilege of being in contact with him since, and his advice and wisdom were always welcomed. May his soul rest in eternal peace.”
Hinds said: “It is with great regret that I learnt of the passing of Imran Khan, who has served West Indies cricket so well.
“I had the pleasure of being a part of the West Indies team while Imran served as media liaison for several home and away series, and his love and passion for West Indies cricket was always evident in the way he carried out his duties.
“In fact, Imran’s contribution goes beyond his role as media liaison, as he was of great assistance to several players during his tenure.
“My sincere condolences to his family, friends, and the cricketing fraternity. May his soul rest in peace and light perpetually shine upon him.”
Khan was survived by his wife, attorney-at-law Tammy Khan, who was also hospitalized for the viral illness.
Source - CMC