3-DAY BAHAMAS AND TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS PUBLIC FORECAST
FORECAST FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT FRIDAY 24TH AUGUST 2018
GENERAL SITUATION: A BROAD MID TO UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IN THE VICINITY OF THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS WILL CONTINUE TO TRIGGER SOME UNSETTLED WEATHER WHILE A HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS MAINTAIN LIGHT TO MODERATE WINDS OVER THE COUNTRY TODAY.
SPECIAL WARNINGS: BOATERS SHOULD REMAIN VIGILANT FOR POSSIBLE WATERSPOUT ACTIVITY AND BEACHGOERS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION DUE TO THE HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT EAST COAST BEACHES MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
WEATHER: VARIABLE CLOUDINESS, BREEZY AND HOT WITH A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THE CHANCE OF ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH TONIGHT.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT CAUTION IS IN EFFECT
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
NORTHWEST BAHAMAS
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY, HOT AND HUMID WITH WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. MOSTLY FAIR AND WARM TONIGHT WITH THE CHANCE OF A FEW LINGERING SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
ADVISORY: SMALL CRAFT SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS AND HIGHER SEAS IN OR NEAR HEAVY SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: SOUTHEASTERLY AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS OVER OPEN WATERS
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
DAYTIME HIGH TEMPERATURE: 92F 33C HEAT INDEX: 105F 41C
OVERNITE LOW TEMPERATURE: 79F 26C
SUNRISE: 6:48AM SUNSET: 7:34PM
MOONSET: 6:40PM MOONRISE: 5:56AM SAT.
HIGH TIDE: 6:12AM LOW TIDE: 12:18PM
HIGH TIDE: 6:36PM LOW TIDE: 1:00AM SAT.
EXTENDED FORECAST: RIDGE WILL REMAIN ACROSS THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS WHILE A TROUF WILL ENTER THE SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS BY LATE SATURDAY AND MIGRATE WESTWARDS WHILE CONTINUING TO SUPPORT POCKETS OF UNSETTLED WEATHER ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MONDAY.
FORECAST FOR SATURDAY
WEATHER: PARTLY CLOUDY AND HOT WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
SEAS: 2 TO 4 FEET IN THE NORTHWEST BAHAMAS AND 4 TO 7 FEET IN THE CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST BAHAMAS INCLUDING THE TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS.
FORECAST FOR SUNDAY
WEATHER: MOSTLY CLOUDY, HOT AND BREEZY WITH WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
WINDS: EASTERLY AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS ACROSS ALL AREAS
SEAS: 4 TO 7 FEET OVER THE OCEAN
TROPICAL WEATHER OUTLOOK: A TROPICAL WAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE OFF THE WEST COAST OF AFRICA TODAY AND THEN MOVE QUICKLY WESTWARD AT ABOUT 20 MPH. NO DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS BUT ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE CONDUCIVE FOR SOME DEVELOPMENT EARLY NEXT WEEK AS IT CROSSES THE WEST-CENTRAL ATLANTIC OCEAN. HOWEVER, TROPICAL CYCLONE FORMATION IS ONLY 10 PERCENT THROUGH THE NEXT 5 DAYS.
Pink stops performance to console grieving fan
The US singer spotted 14-year-old Leah Murphy holding a sign saying she "would love a hug", after having "lost my beautiful mum last month."
"You're going to be okay," she told the youngster.
"Thank you. My mum loved you," replied Leah, before grabbing a quick selfie.
Watch the moving moment above, courtesy of ABC Brisbane.
Pink was forced to cancel part of her Australian tour a few weeks back due to sickness.
Amazon warehouse staff defend retailer on Twitter
A small group of American Amazon employees is being paid to defend and promote the company on Twitter.
A total of 16 accounts have been found on Twitter, written by staff who have worked at the retailer's warehouses.
Called "FC ambassadors", the workers have most often responded to tweets critical of Amazon's working practices.
Amazon said the accounts were run by real people, not software bots created to automatically respond to unfavourable views.
LOL! Procter & Gamble wants to trademark LOL
Procter & Gamble has applied to trademark acronyms that are common in text speak.
If successful, terms including "LOL" (Laugh Out Loud), "NBD" (No Big Deal) and even WTF (too rude to spell out here) could be used to market products.
The global household products company applied to use the acronyms in soap, detergents and air fresheners.
P&G registered the trademark applications with the US Patent and Trademark Office in April.
The products would be sold alongside well known brands such as Febreze, Fairy and Mr Clean.
It seems the firm believes that under thirty-fives can be persuaded to buy its products if they're branded with slang lifted from text speak.
And tech savvy millennials are an important potential consumer group for packaged goods companies.
Collectively, millennials (the group born around the turn of the millennium and often referred to as Generation Y) in the US alone, are expected to increase their annual spending to $1.4tr (£1.09tr) by 2020, according to the statistics portal Statista.
But P&G's applications have not yet been approved and are still "TBD" (To Be Decided).
The change in brand strategy may have come from activist investor, Nelson Peltz, who joined the P&G board in March.
Last September, he told CNBC that younger consumers do not want "one size fits all" brands but products that "they have an emotional attachment to".
Perhaps, these consumers - when faced with a pile of dirty dishes, unwashed socks and a grimy bathroom - already have just those words in mind.
The applications were first highlighted by Ad Age which pointed out that other brands, which might have wished to adopt the terms, are now faced with "FOMO" (that's "Fear of Missing Out" in case you didn't know).
The BBC has not been able to reach P&G for comment.
Kalashnikov's CV-1 electric car touted as Russia's answer to Tesla
Russian manufacturing firm Kalashnikov has wheeled out a retro-looking electric car it says will give Elon Musk's Tesla a run for its money.
The firm behind the famous AK-47 assault rifle presented the eggshell-blue prototype vehicle, the CV-1, at an event near the capital, Moscow.
It said the CV-1, inspired by a Soviet hatchback created in the 1970s, was a revolutionary cutting-edge "supercar".
Kalashnikov was earlier ridiculed over its new combat robot "little Igor".
The company said in a statement on Thursday that the CV-1 car featured a number of "complex systems" with technology that would "let us stand in the ranks of global electric car producers such as Tesla".
It added that, when fully developed, the car would have a top speed several times higher than current electric vehicles produced by its firm and would be able to travel 220 miles (350 km) on a single charge.
As it is an initial prototype, details such as the vehicle's price tag have not yet been disclosed.
Kalashnikov has been looking to take its brand in different directions and recently launched a clothing line and a catalogue of personal items ranging from umbrellas to smartphone covers.
However its decision to go down the road of developing electric vehicles was met with mixed reactions in Moscow.
Social media users quickly took to the company's Facebook page to share their thoughts on Russia's answer to Tesla, with some commenting on its "funny Zombie-like" design, while others praised its "cool" appearance.
"Your tanks are great, but it would be better if you stayed away from cars," one user wrote.
St Lucia opposition calls on PM to explain whereabouts of US$20 million in citizenship donations
CASTRIES, St Lucia — Opposition member of parliament, Dr Ernest Hilaire, has called on Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Allen Chastanet to explain what happened to approximately US$20 million in citizenship by investment programme (CIP) donations that the developer of the Ritz Carlton project, Range Developments, generated and thereafter expected to be made available as initial construction finance.
“In pursuance of the agreement with Range, the developer brought in about 250 CIP applicants. Given each donation is US$100,000 and, less commissions, the developer expected about US$20 million to be available. We asked why was no money was available. Where is the CIP money?” Hilaire said at a press conference on Thursday.
The opposition Saint Lucia Labour Party (SLP) has been calling on the prime minister to provide full public disclosure on the now abandoned Ritz Carlton and the financing agreement with Range Developments.
“We learnt that Range Developments requested a settlement of about EC$20 million for costs incurred and that this should be settled by July 1. Apparently, there was no settlement even after the prime minister had publicly accepted responsibility for the delays in the project. We would further learn that Range Developments had served the attorney general a notice of intent to sue. This time the claim will be for cost and aggravated damages totally over EC$100 million,” Hilaire said.
Accordingly, the SLP called for the following:
1. That the minister with responsibility for investment, Bradley Felix, and Pinkley Francis, chairman of Invest Saint Lucia, make a public statement on the Range Development matter;
2. That the prime minister accounts for the CIP monies that have been earned since the launch of the citizenship programme; and
3. The Cabinet makes every effort to settle this matter in the best interest of Saint Lucia and avoid taxpayers having to be burdened with a decision of the court which may not be favourable to Saint Lucia.
“Hon. Bradley Felix and Pinkley Francis did not see it necessary to provide any explanation to the people of Saint Lucia,” Hilaire continued.
He noted that the prime minister explained that he had used the money thinking that he can use it until the attorney general told him that this was wrong. But he also argued that he had permission to use the money.
“It makes no sense to state that you had permission as it was stated in the Estimates then say that you were using until your attorney general advised otherwise. In the same comments, the prime minister contradicts himself over and over,” Hilaire said.
According to Hilaire, the Cabinet has agreed that the government should settle with Range and pay the sum of about EC$20 million. Range has in the meantime closed its offices in Saint Lucia and relocated to St Kitts where it is planning to build a new Six Senses luxury resort. Range has removed the Ritz Carlton project at Black Bay in Saint Lucia from its website.
“Yet, we have heard no official word or explanation from the government,” he said, adding, “Accordingly, we are asking the government to be accountable and inform the people of Saint Lucia whether the government has in fact signed a settlement deal of EC$20 million with Range Developments for its responsibility in the failed project.”
Range Developments declined to comment on any such settlement agreement with the government, saying that it could neither confirm nor deny the report.
“For government action or inaction to catastrophically destroy an investment project causing the people of Saint Lucia to pay EC$20 million is a sad indictment. Worse, it is the second time that the prime minister has been involved in a fiasco involving Black Bay. The first fiasco cost the country about $60 million and now another $20 million!” Hilaire continued.
In 2014, then prime minister, Dr Kenny Anthony, said that Chastanet, as tourism minister in the 2006 to 2011 United Workers Party (UWP) government, was at the centre of an earlier failed project in Black Bay that ended up costing Saint Lucia taxpayers almost EC$60 million (US$22 million).
“This government is a failure. Every single project that it puts its hand on is tainted or grossly mismanaged. And every time it is the people of Saint Lucia to pay the price. We cannot continue with such gross incompetence in government. We must mobilise and demonstrate our rejection of the UWP government,” Hilaire concluded.
Hurricane Lane: Hawaii hit by flooding and landslides as storm nears
Hurricane Lane has been downgraded to a category two tropical storm as it churns towards Hawaii, but is still causing flash flooding and landslides.
Schools and offices were closed as residents took shelter from the storm, which pummelled the US state with strong winds and torrential rain.
As the storm neared the Aloha state on Friday, it brought winds of 110 mph (175 km/h) and heavy rainfall.
President Donald Trump earlier declared a state of emergency for Hawaii.
The White House said federal authorities were on standby to provide support and supplies to local and state emergency response efforts.
By Friday morning Lane was 180 miles (290km) south of the state capital Honolulu, and forecast to pass over or "dangerously close" to parts of the main Hawaiian islands later in the day.
While the storm has been downgraded, the situation remains "dangerous" and severe flooding is a "major concern", the National Weather Service (NWS) tweeted earlier.
Lane was also forecast to cause dangerous surf heights of up to 25ft (7.6m) in Maui and Oahu. Officials warned of "significant beach erosion" and waves hitting coastal roadways.
Trump Organization financial chief Weisselberg 'given immunity'
The Trump Organization's finance boss, Allen Weisselberg, has reportedly been granted legal immunity in the probe into Michael Cohen.
He was summoned to testify earlier this year in the investigation into Cohen, Donald Trump's longtime former lawyer, US media report.
Cohen pleaded guilty on Tuesday to handling hush money for Mr Trump in violation of campaign finance laws.
Mr Weisselberg, Chief Financial Officer, is the latest to get immunity.
On Thursday, it emerged that David Pecker, head of the company that publishes the National Enquirer tabloid, was also given immunity.
Mr Weisselberg is reportedly mentioned on a tape secretly recorded by Cohen in 2016 in which a hush money payment to an alleged lover of Mr Trump is discussed.
It is not yet clear what Mr Weisselberg has agreed to in return for getting legal immunity.
The Trump Organization has not commented on the reports, which first emerged in the Wall Street Journal.
Matthew Barnes undertakes his first assignment as Head Coach of the Turks and Caicos Islands Men’s National Football Team.
In light of the Concacaf Nations League approaching, the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) has agreed with Matthew Barnes to guide the Men’s National Team as its Head Coach for the 4 qualifying games. Barnes has been involved in Coaching Football since the age of 18. He has Coached at the Youth Level, and at the College Level. During his time Coaching at Lubbock Christian University, he coached National Team Captain, Billy Forbes, and became aware of the football talent that exists in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
In addition to his College Coaching experience, Barnes has Coached in the Premier Development League (PDL) for multiple years in various states in the USA including Texas and California. The PDL is a proving ground for players looking to transition into the professional league in the USA (Major League Soccer) and this reflects his ability to coach and manage elite players as well as those needing to fine tune their football abilities.
One of the most interesting things about being appointed to the position, Barnes says, is the fact that the Turks & Caicos Islands Men’s National Team currently sits in the lower half of the FIFA worldwide rankings. Although this could be a deterrent for some, he expressed that it is right up his alley, and in some senses, his expertise. Barnes has been very successful in providing support to struggling programmes at four Universities in the United States of America, and is also the helm of a very successful USL-PDL (Premier Development League) and NPSL franchise that made the PDL national semi-final two years ago, and the NPSL National Championship, this time last year.
Barnes’ approach to training the Turks & Caicos Islands Men’s National team, right now, is simple; and that is to lay a foundation for the future. “The islands are full of talented young players and giving them a stable platform for development is critical. The modern manager is faced with a multitude of challenges including progressive training sessions, periodization on a team and individual level, personal wellness and personal growth, just to name a few. We will build a platform that addresses these issues and more, while at the same time developing pride in the fact that we represent the people of Turks and Caicos. Work, effort and commitment are non-negotiable and we will build a Men’s National Team programme that takes pride in that.”
The CONCACAF Nations League Qualifying Matches are scheduled to kick off this September and continue through out March 2019. Turks & Caicos Islands will play its first game against Cuba on September 8th at Estadio Nacional de Futbol Pedro Marerro, in Havana Cuba. “I would like to thank the TCIFA Executive Committee for this amazing opportunity. I sincerely believe that this is one of the most well directed National Teams in the region. I see a lot of great things that can potentially happen here, and I can’t wait to get to work,” said Barnes.
For more information, please contact TCIFA Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Candia Ewing, at 946-5532 or cewingtcifa@gmail.com
Address:
TCIFA National Academy
Venetian Road
Providenciales
Turks & Caicos Islands
Beaches Summer Interns Clean-up Bight Community
(August 22, 2018-Beaches Turks and Caicos Providenciales, TCI)—As part of its commitment to environmental responsibility, Beaches Turks and Caicos Resorts (BTC) hosted a two day community clean-up in the Lower Bight in an effort to help beautify and preserve the residential community.
Nearly 80 hired summer interns and full-time employees volunteered for the clean-up, collecting 75 trash bags along Forbes Road to the Beaches Key West entrance.
The clean-up was coordinated by BTC’s Environmental Health Department in collaboration with the Human Resources Department to educate the interns about corporate responsibility, environmental awareness for hospitality workers and to help build well rounded employees.
“The aim of the cleanup was to instill in our interns a positive attitude towards community work and a clean environment. The community and its surrounding environment existed long before Beaches Turks and Caicos was in operation. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we have a positive impact on our surroundings and maintain the natural beauty of this country,” said Stefon Tyndall, EHS Coordinator for the resort.
Tyndall added; “I would like to encourage the members of the community of the lower Bight to help us keep the Bight community clean. In order to keep our environment clean we need people to hold themselves accountable for keeping their surroundings clean.”
The Beaches Summer Internship Program has employed over 600 student interns since its inception eight years ago. The six week paid internship places high school and college students in the advanced summer program to help foster careers in hospitality.
Human Resources Manager, Monique Vaughn said; ‘Our Company’s credo speaks to involving our community, preserving our environment and making today better than it was yesterday. As mentors to the youth of the Turks and Caicos Islands enrolled in our summer programme, we hope they will model our behaviour. They will become good stewards of the earth they have inherited and understand just as our company (Beaches) and team members do, we must each play our role in preserving it”
Shequell Gardiner, an intern with the Public Relations Department said, “I think the community clean-up was a great idea as we were able to come together and help beautify where we work and live. I have interned here before so this is my fourth time taking part in the cleanup and every year, it gets even more rewarding.”
Senior EHS Coordinator, Shuntal Gibson said; “This was one of the best groups of interns thus far for the cleanup, they were passionate, and it was about working hard and making a difference. You could see the passion and how students were willing to do their part to preserve our community.”
The first intern cleanup was hosted in 2014; the initiative has led to over 700 bags of trash being collected over the years.
The students complete the internship program on Friday, August 24th where they will participate in a graduation ceremony. Students who excelled in the program will be chosen as Shining Stars which will give them preference for future internship opportunities.
SOURCES - SANDALS GROUP