This week's NFL Roundup
Philip Rivers threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns while also setting an NFL record for consecutive completions to start a game, and the Los Angeles Chargers overcame a double-digit deficit and rolled to a 45-10 victory Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals in Carson, Calif.
Rivers completed his first 25 pass attempts against the Cardinals, breaking the record of 22 set by the Washington Redskins’ Mark Brunell in 2006. Rivers also tied the record for consecutive completions overall with Ryan Tannehill, who set his mark over consecutive games.
Rivers finished 28 of 29 and was given the fourth quarter off. He also set a single-game record for completion rate at 96.6 percent (minimum 11 attempts). His only incompletion came late in the third quarter as he attempted a short pass while getting hit as he threw.
The Chargers found themselves in a 10-0 hole in the first quarter, after the Cardinals (2-9) got a 25-yard Josh Rosen-to-Larry Fitzgerald TD pass and a 30-yard Phil Dawson field goal. Rivers led Los Angeles (8-3) to 45 unanswered points from there, 28 coming in the second quarter alone.
Vikings 24, Packers 17
In what was practically an elimination game for the NFC playoff race, Minnesota dominated Green Bay en route to a win at Minneapolis.
Kirk Cousins completed 29 of 38 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns as the Vikings (6-4-1) moved into the NFC’s top wild-card position. Adam Thielen tortured the Packers (4-6-1) for eight receptions, 125 yards and one touchdown.
With injuries galore, the Packers needed a big game from Aaron Rodgers. Instead, the quarterback was 17 of 28 for 198 yards and one touchdown. Green Bay fell to 0-6 on the road, including losses at the Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Seattle Seahawks and Minnesota in the past five weeks.
Colts 27, Dolphins 24
Andrew Luck threw three touchdown passes, and Adam Vinatieri booted a game-winning, 32-yard field goal on the final play as host Indianapolis rallied to defeat Miami.
The Colts (6-5) have won five straight games. Miami (5-6) lost for the fourth time in five games. Indianapolis trailed 24-14 with less than nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before Luck, who has a streak of eight straight games with at least three TD passes, led the comeback. He completed 30 of 37 passes for 343 yards, overcoming two interceptions.
His biggest play came on third-and-9 from the Indianapolis 43 on what became the game-winning drive. Luck narrowly escaped a sack and tossed a 34-yard pass to Chester Rogers to the Miami 23, setting up the winning field goal.
Broncos 24, Steelers 17
Nose tackle Shelby Harris intercepted Ben Roethlisberger in the end zone with 1:07 left, and host Denver beat Pittsburgh.
Case Keenum passed for 197 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Phillip Lindsay had 110 yards rushing and a score and Emmanuel Sanders had seven catches for 86 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos (5-6).
It was the second straight game in which the Broncos beat a team entering on a six-game win streak. The Steelers (7-3-1) committed four turnovers. Roethlisberger was 41 of 56 for 462 yards passing, one touchdown and two interceptions, and JuJu Smith-Schuster had 13 receptions for 189 yards and a 97-yard score.
Seahawks 30, Panthers 27
Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 31-yard field goal on the final play as Seattle defeated Carolina in Charlotte, N.C.
Seattle (6-5) scored 10 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes to capture a matchup of two teams likely to be jockeying for wild-card positioning in the NFC. The Panthers (6-5) have lost three in a row.
Carolina kicker Graham Gano was wide right on a 52-yard field goal attempt with 1:40 left. Seattle, without any timeouts, took over at its 42-yard line. On third down, Russell Wilson threw a 43-yard strike to Tyler Lockett to take the ball to the Carolina 10, setting up Janikowski.
Eagles 25, Giants 22
Jake Elliott kicked three field goals, including a 43-yarder with 22 seconds remaining, to lift host Philadelphia past New York.
Josh Adams rushed for a touchdown and Carson Wentz threw for a score as the Eagles (5-6) snapped a two-game losing streak. Philadelphia also defeated New York (3-8) for the fifth straight game.
Giants rookie Saquon Barkley rushed 13 times for 101 yards and a touchdown while also catching seven passes for 41 yards and a score.
Patriots 27, Jets 13
Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes and became the NFL’s career leader in total yards passing for the regular season and postseason combined, and New England overcame a slew of penalties to beat New York in East Rutherford, N.J.
Brady completed 20 of 31 passes for 283 yards as New England (8-3) beat the Jets (3-8) for the 13th time in the past 15 meetings. Brady entered the game 147 yards shy of passing Peyton Manning’s career mark of 79,279 and accomplished the feat on a 4-yard pass to rookie Sony Michel in the second quarter.
He also reached the 3,000-passing-yard mark for the 16th time, tying Manning for the second-most behind Brett Favre’s 18 seasons. Brady reached 3,000 yards on a 17-yard pass to Josh Gordon early in the fourth.
Bills 24, Jaguars 21
Josh Allen totaled 259 yards and two touchdowns for Buffalo in a victory over Jacksonville at Orchard Park, N.Y. Buffalo’s rookie quarterback returned after missing four games with an elbow injury and led the Bills (4-7) to a second straight win.
Allen completed 8 of 19 passes for 160 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to fellow rookie Robert Foster. He also ran 13 times for 99 yards to set a franchise record for quarterback rushing, adding a scoring run.
The Jaguars (3-8) were doomed by penalties (10 for 90 yards) and ineffective play from Blake Bortles (12 of 23 for 127 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions) in their seventh straight loss. Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette and Bills defensive end Shaq Lawson were ejected after exchanging punches in the third quarter.
Ravens 34, Raiders 17
Rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson ran for one touchdown and passed for another while improving to 2-0 as a starter in host Baltimore’s victory over Oakland.
Jackson, started for the second consecutive week because of a hip injury to Joe Flacco and helped the Ravens (6-5) strengthen their playoff hopes. He completed 14 of 25 passes for 178 yards with two interceptions and rushed for 71 yards on 11 carries. Fellow rookie Gus Edwards gained 118 yards on 23 carries.
Baltimore made Jackson’s job easier with a defensive touchdown and a special teams touchdown. Derek Carr completed 16 of 34 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown for the Raiders (2-9), who finished with just 249 total yards, including 67 rushing.
Browns 35, Bengals 20
Baker Mayfield threw four touchdown passes, and Cleveland scored on its first four possessions en route to a victory at Cincinnati.
The win was the first for the Browns on the road since an overtime victory against Baltimore on Oct. 1, 2015. They had lost 25 straight away from home, one short of the record set by the Detroit Lions (2007-10). The victory also marked the first time the Browns won back-to-back games since 2014, when they won three straight.
The Browns (4-6-1) were in control and looked like they would waltz to the win, especially after starting Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton was knocked out of the game in the third quarter with a thumb injury. However, the Browns’ offense stalled trying to establish the run game in the second half, and the Bengals (5-6) found new life in backup quarterback Jeff Driskel, who entered the game after Dalton was injured.
Buccaneers 27, 49ers 9
Jameis Winston made a successful return to the starting lineup, throwing for 312 yards and two touchdowns in leading host Tampa Bay over San Francisco.
Winston, who had been benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick after a four-interception game in Week 8, played error-free ball in helping the Buccaneers (4-7) snap a four-game losing streak.
Rookie Dante Pettis scored his second NFL touchdown for the 49ers (2-9), who were coming off a bye and took their second consecutive defeat. The loss came in the wake of second-year linebacker Reuben Foster being released by the 49ers following a domestic-violence accusation at the team hotel on Saturday night.
Glasgow University to pay slavery profit reparations to the University of the West Indies
In September, after a year-long study discovered that Glasgow University benefited from the equivalent of tens of millions of pounds donated from the profits of slavery, the university announced a programme of “reparative justice”, which will now include the University of the West Indies (UWI).
The report found that, although the university itself “adopted a clear anti-slavery position”, during the 18th and 19th centuries it received gifts and bequests from people connected to slavery.
Prof Sir Anton Muscatelli, the principal and vice-chancellor of the University of Glasgow, said: “This report has been an important undertaking and commitment to find out if the university benefited from slavery in the past. Although the university never owned enslaved people or traded in the goods they produced, it is now clear we received significant financial support from people whose wealth came from slavery.”
The report concluded that the university benefited by between £16.7 million (US$21.4 million) and £198 million (US$254 million), depending on how the amount is updated to its present-day value.
Prof Sir Hilary Beckles, the vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies, welcomed the report, saying: “I celebrate colleagues in Glasgow for taking these first steps and keenly anticipate working through next steps.”
According to Beckles, speaking recently in Jamaica, these “next steps” now include £200 million in reparation payments to the University of the West Indies.
He said the University of Glasgow and UWI are currently drafting a memorandum of understanding, and the term ‘reparatory justice’ is expected to be included.
The £200 million would be a combination of cash and kind.
“We are not on the street corners asking for handouts. We are looking for partnerships and development,” Beckles said.
One of the projects in which the University of Glasgow has reportedly shown interest involves research in chronic diseases in the Caribbean, including hypertension, diabetes, and childhood obesity.
“They are looking at the possibility of partnering with us and having a massive institute for chronic disease research that is going to prevent the proliferation of these diseases in the future,” Beckles noted.
He did not explain why the University of Glasgow had decided to confer the entire maximum current value of its slavery profits on the UWI.
Dolce & Gabbana show cancelled over 'racism' incident
Dolce & Gabbana has apologised after being accused of making racist remarks about China on social media - but claims its accounts were hacked.
Chinese celebrities threatened to boycott a fashion show scheduled for Wednesday night after screenshots circulated on social media appeared to show co-founder Stefano Gabbana referring to China with crude terms and emojis.
The luxury fashion house later said the Shanghai bonanza - The Great Show, which was meant to be a tribute to China - had been called off, reportedly by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Shanghai.
D&G's reputation in the country had already been dented as it released three promo videos ahead of the event showing an Asian model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks.
The narrator offered seemingly patronising advice on how to eat pizza, cannoli and spaghetti, and appeared to mispronounce the brand's name, with some interpreting it as mocking the way Chinese people say Dolce & Gabbana.
Fashion fans on social media were not impressed with the videos, with the topic trending on China's version of Twitter, Weibo, hours before the show was due to start.
Mr Gabbana then appeared to plunge his company into even hotter water as he replied to the controversy in what looked like a private message with London-based fashion blogger Michaela Tranova.
Screenshots of the message showed Mr Gabbano using five poo emojis to say in any future interviews he "will say that the country of poo is China".
He then accused the Chinese of being "ignorant dirty smelling mafia" before saying he was not afraid of Ms Tranova posting the exchange on social media.
The fashion designer then apologised as he posted the screenshot with a big red "Not Me" over it, saying his Instagram account had been hacked and that "I love China and the Chinese culture".
Many of China's top celebrities and D&G fans said they did not believe him and would be boycotting his show.
Singer Kerry Wang, a Dolce brand ambassador, said she would not be attending and modelling agency China Bentley confirmed 24 of its models had pulled out of the show before it was postponed.
In a statement, Dolce & Gabbana said: "Our dream was to bring to Shanghai a tribute event dedicated to China which tells our history and vision.
"It was not simply a fashion show, but something that we created especially with love and passion for China and all the people around the world who loves Dolce & Gabbana."
Again, people were not satisfied with the explanation, with Chinese-French model Estelle Chen - who was meant to be in the show - saying the incident was "disrespectful and racist".
"You don't love China, you love money," she wrote.
"China is rich yes but China is rich in its values, its culture and its people and they won't spend a penny on a brand that does not respect that."
Other models and event staff posted images of their event badges with "not me" written in red letters.
The incident comes five years after security guards at a Dolce & Gabbana store in Hong Kong tried to stop locals, but not overseas or mainland China customers, from taking photos.
The Chop-Off Cooking Challenge will showcase the best in local cuisine
The Third Annual Turks and Caicos Food and Culture Festival will see two days of activities that celebrate local cuisine while highlighting TCI culture and heritage.
The festival kicks off with the Chop Off Cooking Challenge on Friday, November 30th at the Ports of Call Courtyard in Providenciales.
The Chop Off is a 3-round cooking competition where top chefs from around the country will have have a limited time to create phenomenal dishes using a basket of unknown ingredients--also known as the mystery basket. Each round will call for a different course and chefs will have to turn out creations that excite the crowd and the judges until there is only only culinary master left standing.
This year, four chefs will compete.
Chef Gregory Lightbourne is representing Providenciales.
Chef Jenny Talbot is team North Caicos.
Chef Ronieka Harvey will bring flavors from South Caicos.
And Chef Jago Moore is doing it big for the nation’s capital, Grand Turk.
The Turks and Caicos Food and Culture Festival is the brainchild of Nikita “Chef Nik” Skippings: Culinary Ambassador of the TCI and the owner and proprietor of Crackpot Kitchen enterprises.
Son of Smokey’s on Da Beach founder, Aldon “Smokey” Smith, cooking runs in Chef Nik’s blood. He incorporates his father’s Lobsterfest into day 2 of the Turks and Caicos Food and Culture Festival.
Chef Nik explained that the addition of a Providenciales-based chef to this year’s Chop Off is sure to shake things up.
Through the competition, he seeks to create a platform for chefs islandwide to show off their skills and build their businesses.
Last year’s Chop Off champion won a brand new car courtesy of Kia Motors and overall prizes with a cash valued amount of over $70,000. Chef Nik said the rewards for this year’s winner will be even bigger.
A panel of judges will decide who takes home the Chop Off Champion title.
This year’s judges include Nikheel Advani, COO of Grace Bay Resorts, Mrs. Deleriece Hall, Country Manager of Flow TCI, Mr. Bradley Theodore, a world-renowned artist from the TCI and Mrs. Joanne Hagan who will represent the Shore Club, The Palms and the Sands.
Tickets are on sale now. Standard $50. VIP $85.
This week's NBA game round-up
LeBron James scored 32 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and dished out seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a come-from-behind 109-105 win over the Cavaliers on Wednesday in his return to Cleveland.
The Lakers, sparked by James, went on a 16-3 run late in the fourth quarter to erase a 99-91 Cavaliers lead. All five Los Angeles starters scored in double figures, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 13 off the bench.
The sellout crowd at the Quicken Loans Arena gave James a rousing standing ovation during the team’s introduction, thanking him for bringing Cleveland its first championship — a memorable title over Golden State in 2016, ending a 52-year drought.
After the game, James said, “To come back and get the reception that I got tonight, it means a lot to not only myself, but for my family and friends that were here tonight, and my family that’s back home in L.A. as well.”
Thunder 123, Warriors 95
Dennis Schroder scored 10 of his game-high 32 points in a second-quarter run that gave Oklahoma City the lead for good in a blowout of Golden State at Oakland, Calif. The Warriors have lost four straight for the first time under head coach Steve Kerr.
Russell Westbrook recorded a triple-double (11 points, 11 rebounds, 13 assists), Steven Adams and Jerami Grant had double-doubles, and Paul George poured in 25 points as the Thunder used balance to overcome a two-man show by Golden State’s Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson (27 points apiece).
The only downside for Oklahoma City was an ugly injury sustained by Hamidou Diallo. The rookie landed awkwardly on his left leg midway through the fourth quarter and was taken off on a stretcher.
Rockets 126, Pistons 124
James Harden scored 29 of his game-high 43 points in the second half, and Houston extended its winning streak to five games with a victory over visiting Detroit.
Harden finished 10 of 20 from the floor and 19 of 19 from the foul line to offset a strong performance from Pistons forward Blake Griffin, who scored 19 fourth-quarter points en route to a 37-point, 11-rebound effort. Griffin hit 6 of 9 3-point attempts but also committed nine turnovers.
Andre Drummond added a double-double for the Pistons with 20 points and 11 rebounds. His counterpart for Houston, Clint Capela, also recorded a double-double (27 points, 15 boards).
76ers 121, Pelicans 120
Joel Embiid outdueled Anthony Davis as host Philadelphia extended its winning streak to four games and ended New Orleans’ streak at three.
Embiid had 31 points and 19 rebounds, Ben Simmons added 22 points, Landry Shamet came off the bench to score 15, and Jimmy Butler, JJ Redick and Wilson Chandler scored 13 each.
Davis, who scored his 10,000th career point, finished with 12 points and 16 rebounds but missed a free throw that would have tied it with 2.5 seconds left. Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun More scored 30 apiece, and Holiday added 10 assists for the Pelicans, who had won six of their past seven.
Grizzlies 104, Spurs 103
Marc Gasol converted the game-tying and winning free throws with 0.7 seconds to play as part of his 20-point, 10-rebound performance, and Mike Conley poured in 30 points with nine assists as visiting Memphis outlasted San Antonio.
The lead see-sawed over the final 3 1/2 minutes until San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan canned a contested jumper over Conley with 1.2 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Memphis got the ball to Gasol, who was fouled by San Antonio’s Rudy Gay with 0.7 seconds to play and calmly made the free throws.
JaMychal Green added 12 points off the bench for Memphis, which has won five games in a row and seven of its past eight. DeRozan led the Spurs with 24 points and Gay added 21 for San Antonio, which has lost five of its past six games.
Knicks 117, Celtics 109
New York stunned host Boston with a 27-7 flurry in the second quarter, then held on for victory over the struggling defending Eastern Conference runners-up.
Trey Burke, Noah Vonleh and Enes Kanter all recorded double-doubles as New York, which had lost six straight, dropped Boston back to .500 at 9-9.
Burke led all scorers with 29 points to go with a season-best 11 assists for New York, which had lost four straight on the road. Kyrie Irving had a 22-point, 13-assist double-double for the Celtics, who have lost three straight overall and two in a row at home.
Bucks 143, Trail Blazers 100
Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 33 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists as Milwaukee pounded visiting Portland.
Khris Middleton added 21 points and seven rebounds for the Bucks, who won their third straight game, leading by as much as 46 in the fourth quarter.
Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum each scored 22 points for the Trail Blazers, who played the second of back-to-back games after a 118-114 road win against the Knicks on Tuesday night.
Nuggets 103, Timberwolves 101
Jamal Murray scored 18 points, including two free throws with 6.8 seconds left, and Denver beat Minnesota at Minneapolis.
Paul Millsap scored 12 of his game-high 25 points during a decisive third quarter, and Gary Harris had 17 points for Denver.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points and seven rebounds, and Derrick Rose had 20 points off the bench for Minnesota.
Hornets 127, Pacers 109
Kemba Walker was good but not great, yet the rest of the Charlotte team responded with one of its best performances of the season in a rout of visiting Indiana.
Walker, the NBA’s leading scorer at 29.6 points per game, finished with 16 points and 11 assists for his first double-double of the season, sitting out the entire fourth quarter after the Hornets led by as many as 26.
Jeremy Lamb led the Hornets with 21 points, including five 3-pointers on a night when Charlotte hit 18 3-pointers, two shy of a franchise record. The Pacers were without their leading scorer, Victor Oladipo (knee), for the second straight game.
Raptors 124, Hawks 108
Kyle Lowry had a triple-double, and Jonas Valanciunas scored a season-high 24 points as Toronto won at Atlanta, handing the Hawks their ninth consecutive defeat.
The Raptors won their third straight and played without Kawhi Leonard, who has not played in any of the team’s second games in back-to-back situations this season. Lowry scored 21 points to go with 12 rebounds and 17 assists, the latter matching his season high.
Toronto also got 22 points from Pascal Siakam, one shy of his career high, and 19 points and nine rebounds from Serge Ibaka. Atlanta got a season-high 26 points from Jeremy Lin. Vince Carter scored 14 against his former club, including his 25,000th career point. He is the 22nd NBA player to reach the milestone.
Kings 119, Jazz 110
Willie Cauley-Stein scored 23 points, while De’Aaron Fox added 17 points, 13 assists and seven rebounds to help Sacramento pull away for a win over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Nemanja Bjelica added 18 points, which included a trio of critical 3-pointers, for the Kings. Sacramento prevailed after shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 44 percent from 3-point range.
Donovan Mitchell poured in 35 points to lead Utah. Jae Crowder added 16 points off the bench, while Rudy Gobert chipped in 13 points and 15 rebounds. The Jazz lost for the fourth time in five games.
Mavericks 119, Nets 113
A fourth-quarter burst from reserves J.J. Barea and Devin Harris allowed Dallas to record a victory over visiting Brooklyn.
Harris and Barea scored Dallas’ first 12 points of the fourth quarter and combined for 17 in a row going back to the third. Their outburst paced a 16-6 Mavericks run for a 103-93 advantage after the Nets had fought back from a 14-point deficit to tie the game.
Barea and Harris each scored 18 for Dallas, while Harrison Barnes scored a game-high 28 points and was also clutch late in a close game, contributing seven points in the final 6:35. Brooklyn was led by Allen Crabbe’s 27 points.
Bulls 124, Suns 116
Zach LaVine scored 29 points on 10-for-20 shooting, and Bulls held on for a win over visiting Phoenix.
Jabari Parker added 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists for Chicago, which snapped a four-game losing streak. Ryan Arcidiacono (14 points), Antonio Blakeney (14), Wendell Carter Jr. (14) and Justin Holiday (11) also scored in double digits for the Bulls.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 23 points and six assists, and Deandre Ayton recorded his 10th double-double in 17 games, finishing with 18 points and 12 rebounds, plus five assists. Phoenix lost its third consecutive game and dropped to 0-8 on the road.
Latest Crime News
LATEST CRIME NEWS
(1) Around 12:50pm yesterday, Wednesday, November 21st, 2018, police responded to the Carquest Parking Lot located on Industrial Drive, Providenciales, where a male stated that he was approached by two unknown males wearing dark clothes.
The pair of perpetrators pointed a gun at him and demanded his wallet.
They fled the scene in a small gold colored car headed.
Police are appealing to members of the public who may have been in the parking lot when this incident occurred and whom might have witnessed anything pertaining to the incident, tp please contact police on 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-8477.
(2) Around 12:40am, 911 received a report of a robbery that occurred at Walkin Plaza in Five Cays, Providenciales.
As a result of the report, officers were dispatched to the area where the 56 year old victim in the case informed officers that his vehicle was stolen.
The victim stated that a medium built male dressed in a grey hooded jacket and light colored grey pants with a white shirt covering his face, pointed a gun at him and instructed him to put the money on the seat and vacate the vehicle.
The assailant got away with the vehicle and an undisclosed amount of cash.
The public is advised to be on the lookout for a Light Green Toyota Passo Sedan, registration number 30806.
If sighted, please do not approach, rather, contact the Chalk Sound Police Station at 338-5901 or Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-8477.
Provo Police are investigating stabbing in Blue Hills
Detectives of the Royal Turks and Caicos Islands Police Force are investigating the report of a stabbing incident that occurred on Friday 17th November 2018 in Blue Hills, Providenciales.
Around 7:20pm, officers visited the Cheshire Hall Medical Centre where the 28 year old male victim was seen and stated that upon his arrival home at 7pm he was approached by a known man who stabbed him multiple times about his body.
Checks were made for the suspect within the districts but up this date he has not been located. The victim is in stable condition and expected to recover.
Police are appealing to members of the public who may have any information in connection to this incident to please contact police on 911 or Crime Stoppers at 1- 800-8477.
St. Lucia opposition seeks resignation of Prime Minister
The main Opposition St Lucia Labour Party (SLP) yesterday filed a motion of no confidence against the Government of Prime Minister Allen Chastanet, calling also for his immediate resignation as the head of the two-and-a-half-year-old Administration.
“In my capacity as leader of the Parliamentary Opposition and leader of the St Lucia Labour Party, I delivered this morning to the clerk of Parliament, for onward submission to the speaker of the House, a copy of a motion of no confidence in the prime minister and minister of finance,” SLP leader, Phillip J Pierre told a news conference ahead of the start of yesterday's sitting of Parliament.
Chastanet led the United Workers Party (UWP) to an 11-6 majority in Parliament following the June 6 General Election. The SLP won the other six seats.
Pierre said that the motion and the anticipated debate will articulate the deep concerns, anxieties, and the feeling of hopelessness among large sections of the St Lucian society about the uncaring and irresponsible manner in which the business of the country is currently managed.
He said that since the appointment and installation of Chastanet as prime minister and minister of finance, economic growth, job creation and external affairs, St Lucia has been governed in a manner that has undermined the constitution, its conventions, and practices.
“We have witnessed a growing abuse of public office, unreasonable and irrational decision-making, unsustainable fiscal deficits, squandering of the State's financial resources, and a debilitating decline in the public trust and confidence in the prime minister's ability to govern the country.”
Pierre said that Prime Minister Chastanet, while acknowledging the need for of a deputy speaker by proposing and supporting the nomination of Sarah Flood-Beaubrun as deputy speaker, caused her to resign at a subsequent meeting of Parliament without explanation, leaving the position vacant.
“This amounts to no more than an abuse and contempt for the intentions of our constitution and the people's Parliament.”
The Opposition leader said that Prime Minister Chastanet has refused to lay in Parliament, for debate, a statement on the use of the funds in the St Lucia National Economic Fund established under the Citizen by Investment Programme, despite pleas from the public and the Opposition.
“The prime minister, by his failure to do so, has acted in breach of the Act, thereby contributing to growing suspicions about the lack of transparency and trust in the Citizenship by Investment Programme.
“The prime minister has recklessly and irresponsibly allowed the economy to descend into unsustainable deficits, and has embarked on the dangerous path of having to fund those deficits by incurring more debt,” Pierre said.
He said the “misguided actions and inactions” of Prime Minister Chastanet, as it relates to the health of the nation, “have plunged the provision of health care services into a deep crisis, created rising uncertainty, undermining morale among health care practitioners, and has now encouraged an exodus of trained nurses from the health care system”.
Pierre further claimed that Prime Minister Chastanet has demonstrated little appreciation for the value of education as a major instrument for the alleviation of poverty and the general well-being of St Lucians.
“He has adopted policies inimical to the interest and benefit of teachers and students, and in so doing he is jeopardising the future of our children and our country's prospects,” Pierre said, noting that while the SLP will not predict the outcome of the motion, there are legislators who are already deciding to vote against the motion before the debate takes place and are setting themselves up as “collaborators with Prime Minister Chastanet's callous and uncaring policies”.
“The Opposition is calling on all House members, in particular, members on the Government side, to place country above self and support the vote of no confidence in the leadership of Allen Chastanet, and that he resigns immediately as prime minister of St Lucia,” Pierre told reporters.
Romaine lettuce not safe to eat, says CDC
Romaine lettuce is unsafe to eat in any form, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday in a food safety alert in response to a new outbreak of illnesses caused by a particularly dangerous type of E. coli bacteria.
The CDC told consumers to throw away any romaine lettuce they may already have purchased. Restaurants should not serve it, stores should not sell it, and people should not buy it, no matter where or when the lettuce was grown. It doesn’t matter if it is chopped, whole head or part of a mix.
The unusually broad warning, issued just two days before Americans sit down for their Thanksgiving dinners, reflects the uncertainties about the origin and extent of the bacterial contamination. The CDC is not claiming that all romaine contains the dangerous bacteria — something the millions of people who have eaten the popular lettuce recently should bear in mind — but investigators don’t know precisely where, when or how the contamination happened.
Thus all romaine is suspect.
The CDC reported that 32 people in 11 states have become sick from eating contaminated romaine. Of those, 13 have been hospitalized, with one patient suffering from a form of kidney failure. The Public Health Agency of Canada has reported that 18 people have been infected with the same strain of E. coli. in Ontario and Quebec.
No deaths have been reported.
“Consumers who have any type of romaine lettuce in their home should not eat it and should throw it away, even if some of it was eaten and no one has gotten sick,” the CDC said in the Food Safety Alert issued Tuesday afternoon.
“This advice includes all types or uses of romaine lettuce, such as whole heads of romaine, hearts of romaine, and bags and boxes of precut lettuce and salad mixes that contain romaine, including baby romaine, spring mix, and Caesar salad,” the CDC said. “If you do not know if the lettuce is romaine or whether a salad mix contains romaine, do not eat it and throw it away.”
The agency also advised consumers to wash and sanitize drawers and shelves where the lettuce was stored. People usually become sick within three or four days of consuming lettuce contaminated with the E. coli, according to the CDC.
Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, said the looming Thanksgiving holiday weighed on the minds of federal officials as they prepared the food alert.
“I think we felt increased pressure to try to communicate earlier and more substantively with the public given that we know people are going to sit down for holiday meals,” Gottlieb said.
But he acknowledged that it is “frustrating and unfortunate” that the alert has to be so broad, covering all romaine lettuce. The federal agencies and the industry are trying to improve traceback techniques to narrow down the sources of outbreaks, he said. “We need to be able to get consumers more precise information about what they shouldn’t be eating, rather than these more general alerts.”
California has the highest number of reported illnesses, with 10, followed by Michigan with seven, New Jersey with three, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and New York with two each, and the remainder in Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio and Wisconsin.
The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement saying it is making a special effort to test romaine for contamination across the country.
Five people died in the most recent major outbreak from contaminated romaine, which lasted from March to June of this year and led to 210 cases in 36 states. That outbreak was traced to the Yuma, Ariz., growing region, but investigators never conclusively determined the precise source. Gottlieb said the leading suspect is contaminated canal water used by multiple farms.
The latest outbreak does not appear to be connected to the Yuma outbreak. Rather, this outbreak involves a strain of E. coli that has the same genetic fingerprint as the one that caused illnesses late last year in both the United States and Canada. Canada linked its cases to romaine lettuce specifically, although the U.S. investigators said only that origin was in leafy greens. Once again, the precise origin was never determined. That outbreak was declared over in January.
The first illness from this outbreak was reported on Oct. 6. There are typically delays in reporting illnesses linked to E. coli outbreaks, and the CDC said cases from early November onward likely have not been logged by health officials.
U.S. crops rot as storage costs soar
U.S. farmers finishing their harvests are facing a big problem - where to put the mountain of grain they cannot sell to Chinese buyers.
For Louisiana farmer Richard Fontenot and his neighbors, the solution was a costly one: Let the crops rot.
Fontenot plowed under 1,000 of his 1,700 soybean acres this fall, chopping plants into the dirt instead of harvesting more than $300,000 worth of beans.
His beans were damaged by bad weather, made worse by a wet harvest. Normally, he could sell them anyway to a local elevator - giant silos usually run by international grains merchants that store grain.
But this year they aren’t buying as much damaged grain. The elevators are already chock full.
“No one wants them,” Fontenot said in a telephone interview. As he spoke, he drove his tractor across a soybean field, tilling under his crop. “I don’t know what else to do.”
Across the United States, grain farmers are plowing under crops, leaving them to rot or piling them on the ground, in hopes of better prices next year, according to interviews with more than two dozen farmers, academic researchers and farm lenders. It’s one of the results, they say, of a U.S. trade war with China that has sharply hurt export demand and swamped storage facilities with excess grain.
In Louisiana, up to 15 percent of the oilseed crop is being plowed under or is too damaged to market, according to data analyzed by Louisiana State University staff. Crops are going to waste in parts of Mississippi and Arkansas. Grain piles, dusted by snow, sit on the ground in North and South Dakota. And in Illinois and Indiana, some farmers are struggling to protect silo bags stuffed with crops from animals.
U.S. farmers planted 89.1 million acres of soybeans this year, the second most ever, expecting China’s rising demand to give them better returns than other bulk crops.
But Beijing slapped a 25 percent tariff on U.S. soybeans in retaliation for duties imposed by Washington on Chinese exports. That effectively shut down U.S. soybean exports to China, worth around $12 billion last year. China typically takes around 60 percent of U.S. supplies.
The U.S. government rolled out an aid program of around the same size - $12 billion - to help farmers absorb the cost of the trade war. As of mid-November, $837.8 million had been paid out.
Some of that money will pass from farmers to grain merchants such as Archer Daniels Midland Co (ADM.N) and Bunge Ltd (BG.N), who are charging farmers more to store crops at elevators where there is limited space. Bunge and ADM did not respond to requests for comment on storage fees.
The storage crunch and higher fees have boosted revenues at grain elevator Andersons [ANDE.O], Chief Executive Officer Pat Bowe said in an interview.
“It’s paying a grain handler to store - it’s the old-fashioned way to make money,” Bowe said.
These are also boom times for John Wierenga, president of grain storage bag retailer Neeralta. Sales of their bags - white tubes up to 300 feet now littering Midwest fields - are up 30 percent from a year ago.
“The demand has been huge,” Wierenga said. “We are sold out.”
Farmers are feeling the pinch. Those in central Illinois could pay up to 40 percent more than in previous years to store crops over the coming weeks, agricultural consultant Matt Bennett estimated.
That amounts to between 3 cents to 6 cents a bushel, Bennett said, a painful expense for a crop that was already expected to deliver little income to farmers.
Storage rates are swinging wildly, depending on the elevator location. Grain dealers at rivers typically charge more than their inland counterparts because they are more dependent on export markets.
At some Midwest river terminals, farmers were paying 60 cents a bushel to store soybeans until the end of the year - more than twice as much as a year ago. Some commercial terminals are charging farmers to just drop off their soybeans.
The trade war has only exacerbated the strain on storage, which has been a persistent problem in recent years due largely to a worldwide oversupply of grains.
Even before this fall’s harvest, around 20 percent of total grain storage available in the U.S. was full with corn, soybeans and wheat from previous harvests, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That was the highest in 12 years for this time of year.
Some grain merchants are also charging additional fees for farmers who deliver less-than-perfect soybeans, said Russell Altom, a soybean farmer and senior vice president of agricultural lending at Relyance Bank in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
“I’ve never seen things this bad,” Altom said. “I know several farmers who hired lawyers, to see if they can sue over the pricing and fees issues.”
Eric Maupin, a farmer in Newbern, Tennessee, said he was facing so-called dockage rates of between 60 cents at $1.20 per bushels at Bunge Elevators in his area - more than three times as high as a year ago.
“Damage can be anything - a split bean, one that’s too small, one that’s too big - whatever,” Maupin said.
Some farmers are pulling farm equipment out of barns to make room for the overflow of grains.
After packing nearly half a million bushels of corn and soybeans in their usual steel bins, Terry Honselman and his family found some additional space in 35-year-old shed on their Casey, Illinois, farm.
Most years, the building protects farm equipment and bags of seed. Now, it is stuffed with 75,000 bushels of corn.
Like others, Honselman is banking on a resolution to the trade war before this spring - when he says he will need the space back for his planting supplies.