MONTEGO BAY, Trinidad (CMC) – Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar today cautioned regional governments that Trinidad and Tobago does not operate like “an ATM card†while stating that the oil-rich twin-island republic was not prepared to fund the regional security budget.
Persad-Bissessar spoke to reporters as she headed into the closing session of the four-day Caricom heads of government summit here.
In terms of the regional security budget, she said that a proposal had been put on the table for a passenger security fee to be charged on all airline tickets, with a view to raising the US$40 million needed. However, that proposal did not enjoy the full backing of member states, Persad Bissessar said.
“So that’s where we are stuck because some nations are not of the view that we would want to put a passenger fee onto every ticket,†she said, adding that while Trinidad and Tobago was not asked to fund the regional budget “should the money not be forthcoming it would shut down several agencies that function at the moment such as IMPACS (the Implementation Agency for Crime and Security) the RSS (Regional Security System,) and so on.
“It will seriously compromise our security agenda for the region … but Trinidad and Tobago is not prepared to fund that entire programme.â€
She also said that her government was reviewing a proposal for the establishment of a regional radar system that had been proposed to Caribbean leaders by the previous Patrick Manning government.
She pointed out that three offshore patrol vessels (OPV), the first of which was due to arrive by May last year, had not yet been received and it would be difficult for Trinidad and Tobago to proceed with the purchase at this stage.
“It was raised yesterday and I indicated to them that it is not that we want to pull out because the security of our borders will also be impaired, but it is because the OPVs, there have been serious delays in delivery dates for those.
“We spent about five billion dollars (US$833 million). There has been no delivery date in sight. I am told by [security advisor] Captain [Gary] Griffith in fact that one of the vessels that you cannot even fire a shot from it … they are not suitable.
“The goal post keeps moving in terms of delivery dates so it is not that Trinidad and Tobago doesn’t want to have the radar system. I am advised that without the boats you cannot have the radar,†she added.
The Prime Minister said she was looking forward to a successful outcome to the summit, adding that Trinidad and Tobago has been firm on its positions
SOURCE: SKN VIBES
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE Wellington Road Branch of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) remains closed for almost a week following a staged robbery at that branch, with no confirmed date of reopening.
Days after the tragic event, which left two employees traumatised, security presence was still felt on the site of the financial institution, and though the Automated Teller Machine remains accessible to the public, the bank has not since been opened.
On a visit to the site, SKNVibes observed a member of a notable private security agency was seated in the bank behind the closed door, while customers transacted their business at the Automated Teller Machine.
This media house was reliably informed that on Monday morning (Jul. 5), one female employee was taken to the JNF Hospital for suspected trauma. The source explained that the woman was visibly trembling when she attempted to open the door leading to her place of employ, and on entering she collapsed on the floor.
Information reaching SKNVibes states that local bank officials have been in constant dialogue with their parent company, discussing the way forward for the bank and its branches. Inside sources revealed yesterday (Jul. 6) that the branch may not be opened for the remainder of the week.
The official noted that due to the sensitivity of situation and a “combination of different reasonsâ€, it is uncertain when that branch would be reopened to the public. A press statement is expected to be released later this week outlining the bank’s plan of action.
During last Thursday’s (Jul. 1) robbery, a group of armed, masked men entered the bank, which is situated at S.L. Horsford’s Shopping Complex on the southern side of Valu Mart IGA on Wellington Road, and robbed a male customer of his wallet containing an undisclosed sum of money.
This summer the tourists are slowly coming back, even if you wouldn’t know it from looking at the stocks of cruise operators, casinos, and hotels.
While the broad Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index is down 12.9 percent since Apr. 23, cruise company Royal Caribbean (RCL) is down 33.5 percent and its rival Carnival (CCL) is off 26 percent. MGM Resorts (MGM) has tumbled 38 percent, and auto rental giant Avis Budget Group (CAR) has plunged 36 percent.
What’s constraining tourism stocks is the suspicion that the recent recovery in the leisure travel business can’t last. “We think they’re set up for continued disappointment,” says Tom Samuels, managing partner at Palantir Capital Management, who has sold all his travel-related stocks.
Among the trouble potentially facing the U.S. tourism industry, according to investors and analysts: an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that could mar beaches or divert cruises; a stronger dollar and economic troubles in Europe that could discourage visitors from overseas; and high U.S. unemployment and falling consumer confidence—particularly evident in the last couple of months—that could dissuade Americans from splurging on travel.
“We might have created a number of excuses for consumers to step back,” says Tom Villalta, chief investment officer at Jones Villalta Asset Management, which does own travel stocks MGM, Royal Caribbean, and Disney (DIS).
Stock Market Influence
The falling stock market itself can be a problem, as Carnival Chief Operating Officer Howard S. Frank said in a June 22 call with analysts. “We believe this caused consumers, especially those in North America, to rethink their discretionary travel decisions,” he said.
Market performance heavily influences consumer confidence, which in turn is the “No. 1″ factor affecting tourism demand, says Morningstar (MORN) analyst Warren Miller. “They’re more affected by consumers’ willingness to purchase rather than ability to purchase,” he says. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index, released June 29, fell from 62.7 in May to 52.9 in June.
The good news is that there is little solid evidence that consumers are actually canceling travel plans. Carnival’s Frank also said, “Over the last 13 weeks it’s fair to say that demand for cruises has been solid and we’ve continued to achieve higher year-over-year price increases.” Carnival executives added that they had seen no impact from the oil spill or European economic problems.
Data from the hotel industry confirm that travelers are slowly returning.
According to travel research firm STR, hotel occupancy rates were up 6.8 percent from a year earlier to 69.7 percent in the week ended June 26. The average daily rate charged to hotel guests was up 1.1 percent to $98.79.
“We really haven’t seen any kind of weakness,” says STR Senior Vice-President Bobby Bowers.
Summer Estimates
Overall, STR estimates the summer travel season will see occupancy increase 4.3 percent and the average daily rate remain flat, up just 0.1 percent. Though that would be an improvement, it comes off a terrible 2009 for the hotel industry. Last summer, STR estimates, occupancy rates plunged 9.1 percent and the average daily rate dropped 9.6 percent. “Last year a lot of people didn’t travel at all,” Bowers says.
One worrying statistic for the tourism industry, however, is that, while luxury hotel rates rose 6 percent in the most recent STR report, rates at economy hotels actually fell 2.7 percent.
“The high end is still spending and taking nice vacations,” Samuels says. “But the much bigger middle is pulling back.”
The weak labor market may be a factor, with the U.S. unemployment rate at 9.5 percent in June.
“We are cautiously optimistic about the environment going forward,” Choice Hotels (CHH) Chief Executive Officer Stephen Joyce told an Oppenheimer (OPY) investment conference on June 29, “but without real job creation, it feels a little fragile [to] us.”
Resorts, hotels, and cruise ships might need to continue discounting heavily to attract customers. As hotels try to raise prices, “we think there is going to be pushback from the consumer,” Joyce said.
Much depends on how much of a priority consumers place on travel. After almost two years of shorter trips to closer destinations, consumers might be eager to book big vacations—regardless of the broader environment.
“There is some pent-up demand there from people who have been holding back,” Villalta says. “With a glimpse of improvement in the economy, we’re going to see people return to prior habits of travel.”
Steverman is a reporter in Bloomberg’s Chicago bureau.
With the hardened, entrenched word “underachiever†at last pried from its reputation and flung into its past, Spain systematically topped Germany on Wednesday night in Durban and went streaming into the glamorous soccer nation’s first-ever World Cup final.
La Furia Roja will oppose the Netherlands on Sunday night because it habitually hogged the ball from a German attack that had splurged for 13 goals, because the humble central defender Carles Puyol scored a rare goal on a header off a corner in the 73rd minute, and because it clearly possesses a collective gut much sturdier than reputed.
In tense, thick knockout-round wins over Portugal, Paraguay and Germany – all 1-0 finishes – Spain displayed a patience noteworthy for a side that prefers to score and score gorgeously. Averting frustration, it scored finally in the 63rd, 83rd and 73rd minutes of those matches and gave itself a chance to become the first national team since West Germany in 1972-74 to win a European Championship and a World Cup in succession.
Against Germany, Spain’s goal finally came after it spent the match doing precisely what manager Vicente del Bosque intended, using its knack for ground passing and possession to keep the ball from a Germany which had scored four times on Australia, four times on England and four times on Argentina in a dazzling showing last Saturday. After a first half with only one real chance on goal – Spain’s main scorer David Villa up close against German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who saved adroitly – the Spanish heightened their assault pretty much right out of the gate in the second half, even if Germany did render Villa mostly muffled.
This figured to lend them either a winning goal or a profound heartbreak, but for once in Spain’s tortured World Cup history, the former came. It came shortly after Xabi Alonso’s two reasonably clear shots from afar blasted wide of the mark, and it came just after Andres Iniesta worked one of his trademark velvet possessions of the left edge of the box.
Working his way down to the end line there, Iniesta tried a cross against the gathering German defense, ricocheting the ball off one of the defenders to set up a corner from the left. Xavi took that corner, and it sailed and curled above the wall of players until it found the last guy lunging behind the masses, Puyol, with his amply haired head and his 32 years of age. Puyol may have scored only 11 goals in his life playing for Barcelona and Spain, and only two goals in 88 previous caps for Spain, but this time the defender showed his aerial skills and shipped a header above the reacting throng and into the back right corner of the goal, well out of Neuer’s lurching reach.
From there, Spain merely had to hold on for 17 minutes plus three of added time, and while Germany’s capable surges lent the match fleeting bits of suspense, the Germans never did produce a shot that asked a lot of Iker Casillas, the Spanish goalkeeper. Germany’s mandatory desperation did, however, allow for some stirring Spanish counter-attacks, one of which featured an 82nd-minute run from Pedro, the 22-year-old who had started for the Euro 2008 and Liverpool star Fernando Torres. Sensing a clincher and World Cup glory, however, Pedro evidently didn’t even notice that as he battled Arne Friedrich along his way, Torres lurked all lonely to his left in the box, having come on as a 80th-minute substitute after struggling across four matches as a starter because he recovers from two knee surgeries.
Pedro lost possession, then apologized to Torres, then came off perhaps as penance, but Spain did hold on and did create yet another upending in the World Cup process. It had arrived in early June as a co-favorite (with Brazil) and had quickly lost to Switzerland to foment angst at home, but it had clawed its way through to its first modern World Cup semifinal to find itself a popular underdog against a suddenly scorching Germany. Yet it had won that, too, because it has a wealth of talent on the ball but also, by now, a sturdy gut.
FULL-TIME |Spain 1, Germany 0
In a World Cup-historic outcome, Spain will grace a World Cup final for the first time, opposite The Netherlands on Sunday. Schweinsteiger looks positively gutted, keeled over on the pitch. Spain exults. We’ll have a recap shortly.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Perhaps it’s time for Google to be evil.
Shares of the Internet advertising giant have fallen for 13 consecutive trading sessions. During that unlucky stretch, Google’s stock has plunged (coincidentally?) 13%, erasing about $20.8 billion in market value.
The stock was up 1% Wednesday morning despite a price target cut by J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan. So its losing streak may finally be about to end.
But even if Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) finishes higher on Wednesday, the recent rough patch is just the latest in what’s been an awful year for the stock. Google’s down nearly 30% in 2010, worse than the drops experienced by top rivals Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) and Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500).
Even though Google remains the undisputed king in online search, investors seem bored with Google’s dominance. The company’s troubles in China have some concerned that Google will never be able to extend its market share lead in the U.S. to the world’s largest market.
Shares of Baidu, Google’s main competitor in China, have surged more than 65% so far in 2010 as investors bet that Google’s battle with the Chinese government over censorship will make Baidu (BIDU) even stronger.
It’s also looking more and more like Google, despite all its efforts to diversify, may be a one-trick pony after all. Sure, that pony is hardly a nag. As I wrote way back in 2005, it was performing like Secretariat.
0:00 /1:00Google blinks in China dispute
That’s still the case. Google will report its second quarter results on July 15. Analysts expect that Google’s sales (excluding ad revenue shared with partners) and earnings per share will surge more than 22% from a year ago. For the full year, analysts are predicting an earnings increase of about 20%.
That’s obviously an enviable growth rate in an economy that’s still tepid at best. Still, Google is a victim of its success. Over the past five years, Google’s annual earnings growth rate has averaged nearly 40%.
Growth inevitably has to slow given how large the company has become. But Tim Boyd, an analyst with MKM Partners in Stamford, Conn., said that Google’s slowing momentum could be enough of a reason to convince some growth-oriented institutional investors to sell the stock.
“Google has been criticized for years for not diversifying, but as long as it was growing at 30% to 40% nobody cared,” he said. “Now with growth slowing to 15% to 20% or so, that puts you at the cusp of being a value stock.”
Some investors are also worried that Google has not been able to replicate its market dominance in other areas — most notably, in the world of mobile devices and social networking.
“Google’s core business of search is still doing well, but people need to know what the next big multibillion dollar product will be. That’s spooking investors,” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst with JMP Securities in San Francisco.
Stay on top of Google 24/7 with Fortune’s Google blog
Google has made a mild splash with its Android mobile operating system and Nexus One phone. But that’s nothing compared to the cannonball that is Apple.
Unfortunately for Google, beating the stuffing out of Yahoo and Microsoft in search is now considered a fait accompli. But Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500), with its iPhone and iPad, has become more of a competitor to Google as of late. And Google’s growth, while impressive, is pedestrian when compared to Apple.
Analysts expect Apple to report a profit jump of more than 50% in its fiscal third quarter (which ended in June) and a nearly 75% sales increase. For the full fiscal year ending in September, analysts are forecasting a profit increase of over 50%.
So it’s no wonder that Apple’s stock has held up during the market turmoil of 2010: Shares are up nearly 20% so far this year.
“It seems like we say it every quarter, but there’s not a lot new to get excited about with Google. It’s steady as she goes,” said Martin Pyykkonen, an analyst with Janco Partners in Denver. “With other growth stocks like Apple, there are obvious catalysts for investors.”
Pyykkonen said that recent moves, such as Google’s $700 million acquisition of online travel software firm ITA, are just “a drop in the bucket” for a company of Google’s heft.
One also gets the distinct impression that if Facebook ever decides to file for an initial public offering, the social networking juggernaut would immediately whip investors into a frenzy — the type of which not seen since Google’s IPO in 2004.
Trinidad
and Tobago (T&T) is expressing grave concern about the US$20 million shortfall in the Caribbean Development Fund (CDF).
The US$250 million fund was set up to address economic dislocation, infrastructural development and the development of business enterprise across the Caribbean.
According to T&T Prime Minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, there are a number of island nations that have made no contributions, while her country has gone well beyond the call of duty.
Last month, CARICOM was forced to urge Caribbean countries to pay their contributions to the CDF.
In a CMC report, officials were quoted as saying Jamaica had an outstanding balance of more than US$11 million of the US$19.69 million it had committed to.
Under the CDF agreement, Barbados, Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad were expected to make an initial contribution, totaling US$76.28 million, while less-developed countries were required to inject US$14 million.
Nearly a third of people living in the U.S. believe they have a food allergy, according to a recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association . But only 8% of children and less than 5% of adults have true food allergies.
Why do many people think they have a food allergy when they don’t?
Experts say it’s because people don’t understand what really constitutes a food allergy and they often misuse the term.
“Unfortunately, the term ‘allergy’ is sometimes used by the public or health care providers to describe any unpleasant experience patients have with eating food, including ‘feeling bad,’†says Marc Riedl, MD, MS. He worked on the study in The Journal of the American Medical Association and is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine.
Linking ‘food allergy’ with ‘feeling bad’ causes confusion, and can lead to people cutting out certain foods thinking they’re allergic to them, when instead they may be missing out on delicious foods or risking nutritional deficiencies.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which funded the study, is working on guidelines to correct of the confusion over the diagnosis and management of food allergies. The new guidelines are expected to be released later this year.
Myth: I’m allergic to foods that don’t agree with me.
Not necessarily. A food allergy is a very specific immune system response involving either the immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody or T-cells. Both are immune system cells that react to a particular food protein, such as milk protein.
An IgE reaction occurs within minutes to an hour or so of either smelling, touching, or ingesting a particular food. The presence of the food triggers the immune system to over-react and interpret the food as harmful. Histamine is released, causing symptoms that range from mild to severe, including hives, itching, trouble breathing, wheezing, and anaphylaxis.
About 30,000 Americans per year go to the emergency room due to severe allergic reactions to food, and as many as 200 die every year from food allergies, according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network.
A non-IgE immune system reaction can occur within three to four hours of ingestion and can often be mistaken for food insensitivity or food poisoning, explains Wesley Burks, MD, division chief of pediatric allergy and immunology at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C.
“The biggest misunderstanding is that there are different types of food allergies, they’re reproducible, the reactions are the same,†Burks says. “You’re can’t eat cheese, feel sick, and claim a food allergy, but then turn around and enjoy ice cream and feel OK. With a true food allergy, the trigger does not change and the trigger will always set off the same immune system response.â€
The Jamaica Forum for Lesbians All-sexuals and Gays (J-FLAG) is calling on Caricom member states to immediately repeal anti-buggery laws and to integrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexuals and Transgender citizens into “the Caricom familyâ€.
J-FLAG protested across from the entrance to the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay, the site of the 31st Caricom Heads of Government meeting yesterday.
In a release to the media Jason McFarlane, Programme Manager of J-FLAG said that “the decision was made to mount this ‘Stand’ because of the continued presence of anti-buggery laws in 11 of the 14 member states in Caricom which contribute to discrimination, marginalization and other serious human rights violations of Caricom citizens.â€
At the protest the group bore placards calling for the repeal of the anti-buggery laws, as well as an end to gay discrimination and improved human rights for all citizens in Caricom.
Maurice Tomlinson of AIDS Free World and who was one of the participants expressed his organization’s support stating that such actions are necessary to raise awareness within Caricom about the rights of LGBTI, including the right to an adequate standard of health.
He also said that anti-buggery laws and discriminatory practices undermine the regional fight against HIV by driving gays underground, away from effective HIV prevention, treatment and care.
The protest lasted for 17 minutes before the police asked them to relocate due to the sensitive nature of the site.
By KRYSTEL ROLLE ~ Guardian Staff Reporter ~ krystel@nasguard.com:
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of firearm license applications this year compared to last year, Police Commissioner Ellison Greenslade revealed yesterday.
During a press conference held at the Royal Bahamas Police Force headquarters on East Street, Greenslade said there are 15,545 shotguns and 1,565 rifles registered to Bahamians. And according to Greenslade, those figures could increase significantly if police approve the applications that are before them.
While he could not provide any figures, Greenslade said he has noticed a definite increase, adding that he frequently gets calls from Bahamian citizens asking for their license approval process to be fast tracked.
Assistant Commissioner Glenn Miller, who approves grants for firearm licenses, told The Nassau Guardian yesterday that he has also seen “a whole lot of applications” coming into his office.
“Even some people with criminal records have applied,” he said.
“People are applying for rifles, shotguns and in some instances persons have applied for handguns,” he said, adding that handgun grants require a special license.
Asked whether he thought people are applying for guns for the sole purpose of protecting themselves, Miller said “in some instances I feel so but the whole purpose of shotguns and riffles in the Bahamas are for hunting.”
“We don’t issue shotguns for protection purposes. You’re talking about taking somebody’s life. It means that if you mess with me, I’m going to shoot you,” he added.
Miller said among other things, in order to qualify for a firearm license, applicants must be a resident of The Bahamas, 18 years or over, and sound in mind. Additionally, he said people with intemperate habits or persons who have been previously convicted of any offense under the firearm law, is automatically disqualified.
Miller said all of the people he had interviewed this year indicated that they are applying for hunting purposes. Otherwise, he said their applications would not be approved.
Greenslade added that five licenses have been issued to dealers to sell firearms.
As it relates to illegal firearms, Greenslade said police have taken nearly 150 illegal or stolen guns off the streets of New Providence and Grand Bahama since the beginning of the year. He added that a number of the recovered guns were actually the murder weapons that were used in several homicides this year.
Greenslade said that 121 guns were recovered in New Providence and an additional 26 were recovered in Grand Bahama, accounting for a total of 147.
“Of the total amount, 34 were cases where we found the weapon – that is we did not arrest anyone,” the police commissioner said.
“In 103 of those cases, we have either charged an individual or persons concerned together, so the numbers could be bigger than 103 and we’ve taken them to court,” he said.
The most popular weapons recovered included shotguns, .38 revolvers, .389 pistols and 9 mm pistols. Several high powered weapons were also confiscated including several AK 47s, Greenslade said.
Additionally, police said ammunition seizures for the period amounted to 2,795 assorted cartridges.
“We have a role to pay in this organization,” the commissioner said. “We do the due diligence, we receive the information, we collate it, develop intelligence, we act, we arrest and we charge. Once we’ve done that we take the accused person before the court and that is where we leave it.”
The commissioner said a number of the licensed shotguns have been used for criminal activity.
“I want to point the fact that [30] shotguns that were duly registered or licensed were either stolen or came into the possession of these [criminals] somehow,” he added.
“We have received over the years many accounts of guns being stolen,” Greenslade said, adding that in those cases police are reluctant to accede to the request of the license holders for another firearm license.
“We try to air on the side of caution,” he added.
Greenslade said police intelligence also has information on a new street trend where guns are rented or loaned.
He said the illegal firearms get into the country by two common routes.
“We have a lot of pleasure craft, we see a lot of weapons coming from boats that traverse our territorial waters, and of course we have shipments that come into the country containerized,” he said.
Greenslade added that the proliferation of illegal guns correlates with the number of murders in the country.
“We have a number of those that have been linked to illegal gun possession,” he said, adding that he couldn’t provide an exact figure.
“In some of these murder cases, we were able to recover the actual murder weapon, which was not something that we saw in past years. We were always extremely frustrated that we could not find the weapons,” he continued.
Greenslade said an overwhelming amount of men charged with murder are between the ages of 18 and 30.
“These are hardcore young adults and they are predominantly Bahamian males,” he stressed.
Up to yesterday The Bahamas had recorded 48 murders for the year so far.
Prime Minister of Jamaica, Bruce Golding, and his Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) counterpart, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, are to meet tomorrow, to discuss the findings of a probe into the sale of Air Jamaica to Caribbean Airlines (CAL).
CAL took over the operations of the former lovebird in May.
Facing questions from journalists at the 31st Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Montego Bay, St James yesterday, Persad-Bissessar declined to comment on the findings.
She said it would be breaching protocol if she were to disclose the findings to the press, before speaking with Prime Minister Golding.
However, the T&T prime minister revealed that her government is concerned about how the deal was carried out.
The T&T prime minister also sought to assure that the Air Jamaica/CAL deal is not in trouble, stating that the decisions made tomorrow at the talks in Kingston will be beneficial to both Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica.
Shortly after assuming office in May, the Trinidadian government set up a three-member panel to conduct a probe into the deal.
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GFBC WORLD NEWS
