Tata Technologies puts portion of its employees on the bench in wake of pandemic – Economic Times

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Tata Technologies has put a portion of its employees on the bench in wake of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The company said that fewer than 400 employees had been put on the bench, on paid leave, followed by unpaid leave. In response to the changed business environment, we are focused on making Tata Technologies a nimble, responsive and flexible organization. Consequently, we have undertaken several actions including optimization of our bench resources, said a Tata Technologies spokesperson.

The employees continue to be on the rolls of the company and the families will be covered under the company health insurance policy till the end of the year. The National Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES) has filed a complaint on behalf of the employees with the Labour Commissioner in Pune, requesting it to take appropriate legal action against the company.

Harpreet Saluja, general secretary, NITES said that the employees had been asked to respond to an email informing of this situation by 22nd July. It requested that the company follow what Tata Group chairman emeritus Ratan Tata had said about retrenchment of employees in these unprecedented times not being a solution.

In case they opt to not take the option, statutory redundancy process would be applicable. An overwhelming majority of such employees have opted to go on paid/ unpaid leave option as it allows them to be on the rolls and also covered under group Mediclaim which is important under current circumstances. We intend to bring them back on full time roles if demand comes back, as anticipated, said the spokesperson.

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Tata Technologies puts portion of its employees on the bench in wake of pandemic - Economic Times

Dell Technologies A/NZ Partner Awards 2020: And the winners are… – ChannelLife Australia

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Datacom, Dicker Data and DXC Connect are amongst the big winners at Dell Technologies Australia and New Zealand Partner Summit Awards for 2019-2020.

Dell unveiled the winners during a virtual summit, presented by Lynn Nicol, distribution lead, Dell Technologies ANZ, and popular Australian comedian, Will Anderson. The virtual event, hosted by Shant Soghomonian, general manager, channel, Dell Technologies ANZ, and technology commentator Rae Johnston, was an opportunity to recognise the highest performing and most innovative Dell Technologies partners during 2019, the company said.

It focused on celebrating industry developments, business trends for the year ahead and updates to the Dell Technologies Partner Program.

Despite being unable to meet face-to-face this year, its fantastic to be able to recognise and celebrate the outstanding performance of our partners in Australia and New Zealand," says Shant Soghomonian, general manager, Channel, Dell Technologies, Australia and New Zealand.

"Working together with our partner community, we have continued to design and implement innovative technology solutions to drive real digital transformation across the industry.

"On behalf of Dell Technologies, Id like to thank our partners for a great year and we look forward to continuing to work together to deliver new technologies that will help our customers navigate new ways of working."

Datacom Australia was named Solution Provider of the Year, while Dicker Data was named Distributor of the Year. Storage Partner of the Year went to Sempre Technologies, and Services Partner of the Year went to DXC Connect.

Dell Technologies executives attending the summit and award ceremony included Angela Fox, SVP & managing director, Dell Technologies ANZ, Tian Beng Ng, SVP & general manager channels, APJ, Dell Technologies, Amit Midha, president APJ, Dell Technologies, Brian Reaves, chief diversity & inclusion officer, Dell Technologies, and Scott Millard, SVP Global Channel Data Centre Sales, Dell Technologies.

Key highlights from the agenda included Soghomonian and Moheb Moses, Director, Channel Dynamics discussing the challenges and opportunities presented by the current climate and what the new normal will mean for the channel.

The winners of the Dell Technologies ANZ Partner Summit Awards 2019-2020:

"Dell Technologies would also like to congratulate its long-standing partner, Data#3, who were recognised as the Dell Technologies Transformational Partner of the Year Award in the APJ region," the company says.

"This global award recognises partners who have shown outstanding performance in selling solutions across the entire Dell Technologies portfolio."

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Dell Technologies A/NZ Partner Awards 2020: And the winners are... - ChannelLife Australia

The Gray Market: Why the Entire Art World Should Back Canadian Arts Workers Push for Universal Basic Income (and Other Insights) – artnet News

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Every Monday morning, Artnet News brings you The Gray Market. The column decodes important stories from the previous weekand offers unparalleled insight into the inner workings of the art industry in the process.

This week, discussing a different kind of art-market guarantee

On Thursday, a coalition of more than 300 Canadian artists, arts workers, and institutions publicly released a letter addressed to prime minister Justin Trudeau and other high-ranking officials urging the creation of a permanent basic-income guarantee nationwide. And while the letter from our friends in the North technically only addresses the plight of their own population, its timing and its cogent framing of the larger issues also show why artists and arts workers everywhere should care.

Authored by artists Craig Berggold, Zainub Verjee, and Clayton Windatt, the letter continues a recent surge of momentum at the highest levels of Canadian politics for universal basic incomein its most utopian form, an unconditional regular payment that would be made to citizens, regardless of their employment status, to guarantee a minimum standard of living.

CanadianArt notes that the Parliamentary Budget Office released a report on national universal basic income (UBI) on July 7, largely in response to British Columbia senator Yuen Pau Woos advocacy for the relief it could provide Canadians buffeted by the grand shutdown of 2020. More than 1,200 residents, including many artists, also backed a pro-UBI petition sent to the Canadian House of Commons last month.

Although artists have been a major power source for UBIs propulsion into the Canadian consciousness, the brilliance of the new letter lies in its erasure of the boundaries separating art-world problems from wider-world problems. Its authors argue that UBI is needed to counteract the rise of a two-headed serpent: the worsening insufficiency of social-welfare programs at all levels of government, and the growing dominance of gig work such as driving for ride-share startups and food-delivery services. Heres the key passage for my money:

The gig economy is undermining decades of worker protections. As participants, many arts-and-culture-sector workers are subject to precarious short-term contracts, without access to benefits, paid sick leave, or even employment insurance. Today, the world of general labor is looking a lot like the way art labor has looked for decades.

In other words, these problems have been slowly metastasizing over many years, but the lockdown and its effects on the economy have accelerated them to a dire new degree. Establishing UBI, the letters signatories say, is exactly the kind of radical response necessary to solve such an insidious problem.

Yet Canada and its art industry are far from the only places on the globe under this same malicious strain. And this reality became clear by way of multiple distressing announcements from elsewhere in the art world this week.

Sabine Hornig, La Guardia Vistas (2020). Photo by Nicholas Knight, courtesy of the artist; LaGuardia Gateway Partners; Public Art Fund, NY; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York/Los Angeles. Sabine Hornig and VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn Germany.

Lets start with the cold winds blowing out of arts institutions in New York City. On Thursday, my colleague Taylor Dafoe laid out the findings of a new report by Southern Methodist Universitys DataArts initiative: after combining lost revenue and shutdown-related expenses, New York cultural institutions have hemorrhaged a knee-buckling $500 million since March. Their laborers took arguably the most direct hit, as the shutdown vaporized over 15,000 jobs totaling about 21 percent of the overall cultural workforce.

The survey compiled responses from 810 of the almost 1,300 nonprofits given funding by the citys department of cultural affairs. Not surprisingly, the results showed the financial damage was disproportionately weighted toward smaller organizations; major museums suffered the least. Daniel Fonner, who spearheaded the study, summed it all up by saying, What was difficult about this project, in a way, is that a lot of it is just bad news.

British cultural institutions can relate. Also on Thursday, after being prodded by a skeptical, data-backed inquiry from the Art Newspaper, the Creative Industries Federationan organization with members from across the spectrum of UK arts professionsdramatically revised its mid-June estimate of the losses likely to be faced by the museums, public galleries, and libraries in its constituency. Instead of a nine percent, roughly 743 million ($934 million) decline, the federation is now anticipating a demon drop of 45 percent, or more than 3.7 billion ($4.7 billion) in losses. Cue an organ blast from a vintage horror movie.

A Creative Industries Federation spokesperson called the original projection an honest mistake at a time when many of our partners were incredibly stretched and thinly resourced. Which, if true, kind of just drives home the point here, doesnt it? When the arts sector doesnt have enough money, time, or staff to do its work properly, the end product will probably suck. Its just as true in London or New York as it is in Toronto or Vancouver. This would make a universal basic income well, universally valuable to arts workers around the world.

But the benefits are about more than just boosting the quality of cultural production, of course. Its also just a simple matter of quality of life. No other news clarified this concept as forcefully as still another reportthis one from outside the art world, published two days before the Canadian UBI letter and the two art-industry studies I mentioned above.

Visitors look at Do Ho Suhs site-specific work Home Within Home at the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea in Seoul. Photo Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images.

On Tuesday, the National Low Income Housing Coalition released its annual Out of Reach report, which crunches numbers on the affordability of home rentals for the lowest-earning laborers in all 50 American states. The results are so grim that they might as well have been handed over by a skeleton in a hooded black robe.

As CNBC broke down, the study found that a full-time employee earning the local minimum wage nets too little to responsibly afford a one-bedroom apartment in 95 percent of counties across the US and, for the second consecutive year, too little to afford a two-bedroom anywhere in the nation.

The findings are based on allotting no more than 30 percent of annual income for housingthe maximum advised by a wide swathe of budgeting experts, including US government officials, since the 1980s. (Except in certain special situations, minimum wage in the US currently ranges from $7.25 to $14 an hour, depending on the state.)

How many hours would a single minimum-wage laborer need to work on average to budget for these two types of homes? The answers are roughly 79 hours a week for a one-bedroom, and 97 hours a week for a two-bedroom. Which means this slice of the labor marketone that, perversely, happens to include millions of workers labeled essential during the shutdown, such as grocery-store staffers, delivery drivers, and food-service employeescould only manage to do so by either working a second full-time job, and/or taking on exactly the kind of gig work the 300-plus signatories of the Canadian letter identified as a central reason UBI is needed.

Yet many artists and arts workers arent much better off than minimum-wage earners, if they are better off at all. Yes, the growing ranks of laborers unionizing (and attempting to unionize) at US cultural institutions are, in a very real sense, rallying around deeper structural issues. But the fight for fair wages has pounded out a consistent drum track to their efforts, especially in arts hubs where, as more-on-point-than-he-was-given-credit-for New York gubernatorial candidate Jimmy McMillan noted, the rent is simply too damn high.

(Fun fact: When I see Andrew Cuomo, who has slurped up more money from New Yorks real-estate lobbyists than any other donor, laughing like a suited gargoyle after McMillan says his peace in that clip, my entire body momentarily ignites like the Human Torch.)

As much as I hate to say it, the situation is poised to get even worse for the rank-and-file American art world. Heres a bit of marrow-chilling context from the CNBC summary of Out of Reach:

With all of that as the backdrop, housing experts forecast a coming housing apocalypse at the end of July: Eviction bans put in place at the start of the pandemic are lifting, just as enhanced unemployment benefits expire. That could lead millions of households to face eviction and potentially homelessness as they choose between covering rent and basics like food and medicine.

All of which illustrates the point made by the 300-plus signatories of the pro-UBI letter to Canadian officials: the world of general labor is looking a lot like the way art labor has looked for decades. From Canada to New York to the UK and beyond, too many of us are all facing the same structural peril for the same structural reasons. Arts workers rights are human rights, just channeled through one particular prism.

Im not sure if universal basic income is the only, or the best, skeleton key to get the art industry out of this dungeon, but I am sure about this: the sooner artists and arts workers in one location can connect their local concerns to their counterparts elsewhere, as well as to those of the broader labor force suffering under the same injustices, the more achievable genuine transformation should be. Canadas art world sees it. Hopefully others will, tooand soon.

[Ontario Basic Income Network | CanadianArt]

Thats all for this week. Til next time, remember: fairness is simultaneously the simplest ask and the most complicated one of all.

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The Gray Market: Why the Entire Art World Should Back Canadian Arts Workers Push for Universal Basic Income (and Other Insights) - artnet News

OPINION EXCHANGE | Mexico’s misery, and a resurgence of illegal immigration, could be any new administration’s first crisis. – Minneapolis Star…

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Since 2017, more than 1 million Central Americans have made their way to the U.S. southwestern border, triggering a disjointed but brutal crackdown by the administration of President Donald Trump. Although the combination of tighter border controls and the coronavirus has reduced these flows, they will resume when the COVID-19 lockdowns lift.

Only this time, Mexicans are likely to join the exodus. The resulting tensions could destabilize one of the worlds most tightly woven bilateral relationships, jeopardizing cooperation on everything from counternarcotics to water rights and the prosperity that closer ties have underpinned on both sides of the border.

Mexican migration to the U.S. peaked at the turn of the last century. At the end of the 1990s and early 2000s, hundreds of thousands of Mexicans moved north every year, many evading border sentries along the way. They fanned out across the nation, drawn to enclaves in California, Texas, Illinois and Arizona, but also to newer locations: Colorado, Florida, Georgia and Idaho. And many switched from seasonal work in the fields to more permanent year-round jobs in child care, landscaping, hotels and car services.

By the mid-2000s, the exodus slowed. For the past 15 years, more Mexicans have left the U.S. than come each year. This shift reflects economic progress at home, not least an end to the financial booms and busts of the 1980s and 1990s. Beefed-up enforcement at the U.S. border has also discouraged circular migration, with workers now rarely returning home for a few months between planting seasons.

Better schooling also helped. With the number of years of education nearly doubling since 1990, the average Mexican 16-year-old is in class, not the workforce. So have changing demographics: Starting in the 1980s Mexican families have had fewer kids, now averaging just over two per household. Compared with the 1990s, fewer Mexicans are turning 18 every year and searching for work either at home or in the U.S.

But in place of Mexicans came a swelling wave of Central Americans, driven by poverty, violence and devastating droughts due to climate change. The majority have been women and children, pulled, too, by the presence of family, friends and economic ties in the U.S.

The Trump administration has made aggressive efforts to stop them. It changed asylum rules, attempting to disqualify those fleeing gang or domestic violence, to limit the right to apply to those arriving at official border crossings, and to otherwise make it more difficult to seek protection. Those families who did enter the U.S. system were often subjected to inhumane living conditions, with children separated from parents and placed in detention pens resembling cages.

The U.S. leaned hard on Central American governments to stop these would-be migrants from leaving in the first place. Under pressure, Mexico also acquiesced to holding tens of thousands of Central Americans for months or more as they waited to have their claims heard in U.S. immigration courts.

The number of Central American migrants did decline. In the start of 2020, flows fell almost by half compared with the year before. With COVID-19 restrictions, the movement nearly ceased in April and May. Yet the reasons pushing families to leave havent changed. Instead, the pandemic is making them all the worse. And not just in Central America, but also in Mexico.

The biggest factor driving a resurgence of Mexicans north is economic desperation: Mexicos economy is expected to shrink by more than 10% this year. Even before the pandemic, both public and private investment had fallen to historic lows. Since then more than 12 million Mexicans have lost their livelihoods, as the government is doing little to keep companies going or preserve jobs. And in addition to the consequences of President Andres Manuel Lpez Obradors misguided economic policies, his reversal of education reforms has made it less important and likely that students will stay in school. Those who do will be less likely to learn the skills needed in a 21st-century Mexican economy.

Rising violence is also driving hundreds of thousands of Mexicans from their homes and communities. Last year homicides topped 34,000. The first half of 2020 has been even more deadly.

As these factors push Mexicans to leave, economic and familial ties pull them north. Mexicans represent the biggest migrant population in the U.S. (the majority here legally). Even with a soft U.S. economy, these fellow citizens can provide a contact, a first place to stay and a lead on a job for future aspiring migrants.

If the past is any guide, many more Mexicans will head north. Their numbers are already ticking up: Since January, more Mexicans than Central Americans have been apprehended at the border.

The Trump administrations methods to discourage Central Americans wont work with Mexico. Lopez Obrador and his National Guard arent able to stop citizens who have a constitutional right to leave their country. Mexican migrants are less likely to be asylum-seekers (even as many flee incredible violence), so the rule changes wont dissuade their journeys. And Mexicans are also more likely to succeed in making it into the U.S.; the nations proximity means that those who have been deported can easily try their luck again.

A migration surge could be a game changer for U.S. politics and policy. On the foreign policy side, it could rupture the bonhomie between Lopez Obrador and Trump, as migration becomes a defining electoral campaign issue. Mexicos president has so far ignored or endured U.S. slights, but a full frontal attack on his citizens would be harder to take given his long-standing (and popular) defense of Mexican migrants.

For the U.S. presidential race, a surge in Mexican migration would mobilize both sides. It would provide anti-immigrant fodder that Trump could use to feed his base. But his tirades could also motivate more of the tens of millions of Mexican Americans, weary of the ugliness directed at them by association, to turn out to vote. With Latinos representing 13% of the electorate, Democrats could benefit.

The hardest part will come later. Whoever wins in November wont have the policy tools to manage this migration effectively or humanely. Outdated laws and an already strained immigration system provide little recourse, and political polarization makes it all the harder to fix them. Mexican migration could easily become the new administrations first big crisis.

Shannon ONeil is a senior fellow for Latin America Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

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OPINION EXCHANGE | Mexico's misery, and a resurgence of illegal immigration, could be any new administration's first crisis. - Minneapolis Star...

Where Progressives and the Alt-Right Meet – The Bulwark

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You would think that the National Museum of African American History and Culture would be dedicated to fighting the scourge of racism, particularly vicious caricatures and stereotypes of African Americans.

Yet toward the end of May the institution posted one of the most racist documents Ive ever seen, as part of a web page about whiteness. This graphic didnt gain widespread notice until last week, at which point the museum promptly yanked it down.

But the Internet is forever, so here it is:

As of this writing, the museum has not pulled down its link to the source document on which the infographic was based.

Which just goes to prove my theory that the harder you try to be progressive, by todays standards, the closer you get to the alt-right.

Podcast July 24 2020

On today's Bulwark Podcast, Bill Kristol joins Charlie Sykes to discuss the conventions, the debate on policy vs. punish...

What does that infographicand the supposed anti-racist theory on which it is basedtell us?

It tells us that the distinctive characteristics of whiteness and white culture include:

And by implication, its telling us that black people are not characterized by any of these traits.

When I saw this graphic it gave me an immediate, creepy feeling of dj vu. Specifically, it brought me back to that period in late 2015 and early 2016 when all of the white nationalists and alt-right types migrated out of the comments sections at Stormfront and descended upon Twitter.

Do you remember what those people kept insisting? Exactly what the National Museum of African American History and Culture is telling us: That all of these desirable characteristics are distinctive and unique to the white race.

What I remember most vividly from that moment four years ago was seeing two new racial slurs: dindoo and gibsmedat.

Thats dindoo as in dindoo nuffinI didnt do nothing, but rendered in a caricature of a black dialect. The same for gibsmedata caricatured version of give me that. You get the idea. The crude stereotype that was supposed to lodge in our brains is that black Americans refuse to take personal responsibility, want government handouts instead of work, and are incapable of speaking grammatical English.

And now were getting this slime from the dregs of white nationalist Twitter echoed back at us by the Smithsonian Institution.

What the hell happened?

It should go without sayingthough in these confused times I suppose we have to say itthat none of these caricatures is remotely true.

I get why the white nationalists would want to promote them. For the alt-right, its a form of unearned self-flatteryan attempt by a bunch of pathetic losers to puff themselves up as exemplars of hard work and responsibility (which must really take the sting out of living in your moms basement). What seems incomprehensible is why black museum curators would want to denigrate themselves. Worse, why would they want to boost the careers of white academics such as Robin DiAngelo and Judith Katz (the source for that infographic) to spread these vicious stereotypes in corporate anti-racism seminars across the country?

The key to the answer is one item on that list of allegedly white characteristics: individualism.

It is now a standard part of anti-racism to describe individualism and universality as the key components of racism and white supremacy.

It is really quite a spectacular feat, when you think of it, to so completely invert the meaning of a concept. In reality, individualism and universality are the opposites of racism. To view each person as a unique individual is to reject caricatures, stereotypes, and prejudices based on race. To regard ideas and values as universal is to reject the claim that physical differences create an inherent conflict or incompatibility that overrides our shared humanity.

These ideals may be hard to implement fully in practice, but to the extent they are achieved, individualism and universality are anti-racism.

So what is to be gained by turning this on its head? Who benefits by promoting a relentless racial collectivization and building up the artificial divisions between people of different skin tones and ancestral origins?

Sadly, there is political hay to be made out of herding people into separate and irreconcilable interest groups and pitting them against each other.

As one activist put it, while explaining why it is important to capitalize the word black, the idea is to emphasize that this is a specific group of people with a shared political identity. How convenient.

For the profiteers of a tribalistic, us-versus-them politics, the worst threat is the person who sees him- or herself as an individual.

But herding people into collectives requires that we invent inherent differences between them, which requires carving up various attributes of human character, ability, and culture and assigning them to one group or another. One of those groups is always going to end up being assigned the least desirable characteristics.

In a way, though, I suppose todays progressives are going full circle. Recent debates over the legacy of Woodrow Wilsonthe president who brought segregation back to federal hiringhave reminded us all that the first batch of progressives were barking mad racists obsessed with eugenics and steeped in racial caricatures.

Lets not allow their successors to drag us back to those days while insisting that theyre moving us forward.

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Where Progressives and the Alt-Right Meet - The Bulwark

Futurism Art Term | Tate

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Futurism was launched by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti in 1909. On 20 February he published his Manifesto of Futurism on the front page of the Paris newspaper Le Figaro.

Among modernist movements futurism was exceptionally vehement in its denunciation of the past. This was because in Italy the weight of past culture was felt as particularly oppressive. In the Manifesto, Marinetti asserted that we will free Italy from her innumerable museums which cover her like countless cemeteries. What the futurists proposed instead was an art that celebrated the modern world of industry and technology:

We declarea new beauty, the beauty of speed. A racing motor caris more beautiful than the Victory of Samothrace. (A celebrated ancient Greek sculpture in the Louvre museum in Paris.)

Futurist painting used elements of neo-impressionism and cubism to create compositions that expressed the idea of the dynamism, the energy and movement, of modern life.

Chief artists associated with futurism were Giacomo Balla, Umberto Boccioni, Gino Severini.

Vorticism was essentially the British equivalent to futurism, but Wyndham Lewis the founder of the vorticists was deeply hostile to the futurists.

After the brutality of the first world war, many artists rejected the avant-garde notions of futurism and other pre-war movements, by using more traditional and reassuring approaches, a phenomenon described as the return to order.

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Futurism Art Term | Tate

GitHub – julianrubisch/futurism: Lazy-load Rails partials …

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Lazy-load Rails partials via CableReady

Futurism is still in pre-1.0 state. As much as I hope to keep the API backwards-compatible, I cannot guarantee it

Caniuse

with a helper in your template

custom s (in the form of a

or a

are rendered. Those custom elements have an IntersectionObserver attached that will send a signed global id to an ActionCable channel (FuturismChannel) which will then replace the placeholders with the actual resource partial.

With that method, you could lazy load every class that has to_partial_path defined (ActiveModel has by default).

You can pass the placeholder as a block:

Currently there are two ways to call futurize, designed to wrap render's behavior:

You can pass a single ActiveRecord or an ActiveRecord::Relation to futurize, just as you would call render:

Remember that you can override the partial path in you models, like so:

That way you get maximal flexibility when just specifying a single resource.

Call futurize with a partial keyword:

You can also use the shorthand syntax:

Collection rendering is also possible:

You can pass a hash of attribute/value pairs which will be mixed into the HTML markup for the placeholder element. This is important for layouts that require elements to have dimensionality. For example, many scripts calculate size based on element height and width. This option ensures that your elements have integrity, even if they are gone before you see them.

This will output the following:

Once your futurize element has been rendered, the futurize:appeared custom event will be called.

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

And then execute:

To copy over the javascript files to your application, run

! Note that the installer will run yarn add @minthesize/futurism for you !

After bundle, install the Javascript library:

In your app/javascript/channels/index.js, add the following

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

Thanks goes to these wonderful people (emoji key):

This project follows the all-contributors specification. Contributions of any kind welcome!

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GitHub - julianrubisch/futurism: Lazy-load Rails partials ...

NASA’s Mars Rover Spent the Weekend Shooting a Weird-Looking Rock With a Laser – Futurism

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No-Scope

Over the weekend, NASAs Curiosity rover spent its time blasting a bizarre rock on Mars with a laser.

To clarify, Curiosity wasnt just killing time. This particular rock, Digital Trends reports, was adorned with unusual colors for the area, and vaporizing it with a laser is one of the best tricks Curiosity that has for figuring out what its made of.

The laser is just one of Curiositys tools for analyzing an objects chemical composition. In the past, the rover has used them to make discoveries suggesting that Mars once harbored life. The findings for this particular rock arent available yet, but Digital Trends reports that the colors could suggest the presence of organic compounds.

But it wont be until the next rover, Perseverance, shows up with more sophisticated tools that NASA can kick up the hunt for signs of ancient microbes to the next level.

While NASA prepares for its Perseverance launch, Curiosity is continuing on what NASA is calling a summer road trip to scout ahead and study more regions of the planet that may have once harbored life.

Curiosity was designed to go beyond Opportunitys search for the history of water, NASA researcher Abigail Fraeman said in a press release. Were uncovering an ancient world that offered life a foothold for longer than we realized.

READ MORE: Curiosity is investigating a strangely colored rock it found on Mars [Digital Trends]

More on Curiosity: Next NASA Mars Rover Will Sport a Rock-Vaporizing Laser

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NASA's Mars Rover Spent the Weekend Shooting a Weird-Looking Rock With a Laser - Futurism

Pharma Execs Say They Plan to Profit on COVID-19 Vaccine – Futurism

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Multiple pharmaceutical companies have taken huge U.S. government grants to develop a vaccine for COVID-19 but some still plan to sell the vaccines for a profit once theyre ready.

AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna all took funding from the federal government in hopes of developing a safe and effective vaccine against the coronavirus, The New York Times reports. But Moderna which received $483 million in government funding and Pfizer, which didnt take government funds, said that they still expect to profit off the final product.

We will not sell it at cost, Moderna president Stephen Hodge said at a Tuesday Congressional hearing, according to the NYT.

At the same hearing, Pfizer Chief Business Officer John Young also made a vague statement about finding an appropriate, affordable price for the companys vaccine, but also clarified that the company would be making a profit.

No matter what Pfizer and Moderna end up deciding is an appropriate price, the NYT reports that lawmakers at the hearing were concerned that a for-profit system for coronavirus vaccines wouldbe too costly for too many people who need the shot.

I dont want to look back, and then have health equity be an afterthought, California Representative Dr. Raul Ruiz said. It has to be prioritized.

An effective coronavirus vaccine is considered a necessary preventative measure for restoring a semblance of normal life. If pharmaceutical companies are seeking to profit off of them, then they could be priced out of the hands of the people that need this most, Ruiz said.

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Pharma Execs Say They Plan to Profit on COVID-19 Vaccine - Futurism

"Mini-Neptune" Exoplanets May Actually Be Covered in Radioactive Oceans – Futurism

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Nuka-Nepta

New research suggests that astronomers may have been entirely wrong about a class of exoplanets that they call mini-Neptunes.

These worlds, which were thought to be smaller versions just 2.4 Earth radii across of gas giants like Neptune, may actually be rocky exoplanets covered by thick, deeply-irradiated oceans, according to research by scientists at the Laboratoire dAstrophysique de Marseille. The study, published last month in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, threatens to break down the barriers between two classes of exoplanets that astronomers previously thought were totally separate.

Studying exoplanets tends to involve a little bit of trickery. Researchers use various imaging techniques to figure out things like a worlds density, chemical composition, and whether it has an atmosphere. In the case of mini-Neptunes, most had assumed that their low density and mass meant they were coated in a thick, gassy atmosphere.

Instead, according to the study, some may have oceans of highly pressurized and heated supercritical liquid thats been irradiated by a powerful greenhouse effect. The ocean, just like a gas giants atmosphere, could account for the low density and mass of the exoplanets.

A separate study published in Astronomy and Astrophysics found that the same irradiated oceans could also exist on slightly-smaller, rocky super-Earth exoplanets, as their environments are capable of the same powerful greenhouse effect as the mini-Neptunes.

Much of their calculations still need to be tested and verified through more observations of exoplanets. But if it holds up, the findings suggest that the various worlds out there could be a lot more similar than we thought.

READ MORE: Could mini-Neptunes be irradiated ocean planets? [CNRS]

More on exoplanets: Astronomers Discover Intriguing, Extremely Earth-Like Exoplanet

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"Mini-Neptune" Exoplanets May Actually Be Covered in Radioactive Oceans - Futurism

Watch These Brutal Simulations of Apocalyptic Planetary Collisions – Futurism

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A new series of fascinating supercomputer-rendered animations put together by a team of researchers at Durham University show what would happen to an Earth-like planet with a thin atmosphere if it collided with another object.

The research could shed new light on how planets including our own Earth may have evolved during the early days of our solar system.

Space.coms Steve Spaleta combined the animations together into a killer video with epic accompanying music.

We know that planetary collisions can have a dramatic effect on a planets atmosphere, but this is the first time weve been able to study the wide varieties of these violent events in detail, said Jacob Kegerreis, a researcher at Durham University and lead author of a paper about the research published in the Astrophysical Journal last week, in a statement.

The simulations could help evaluate several hypotheses we have about the early evolution of nearby planets. In particular,its relevant to the prevailing theory that the formation of the Moon came about when planet about the size of Mars impacted with the Earth several billion years ago.

By analyzing the new simulations, the researchers found that a grazing impact, like the one hypothesized to have formed the Moon, led to much less atmosphere loss compared to a head-on collision.

A direct hit wouldve led to a complete obliteration of the atmosphere, taking some of the mantle with it. The findings indicate that the Earth probably only lost somewhere between ten and 50 percent of its atmosphere, depending on the kind of impact.

In spite of the remarkably diverse consequences that can come from different impact angles and speeds, weve found a simple way to predict how much atmosphere would be lost, Kegerreis said. This lays the groundwork to be able to predict the atmospheric erosion from any giant impact, which would feed in to models of planet formation as a whole.

This in turn will help us to understand both the Earths history as a habitable planet and the evolution of exoplanets around other stars, he added.

READ MORE: Supercomputer reveals atmospheric impact of gigantic planetary collisions [Durham University]

More on planetary collisions: New Theory: Life on Earth Came From Impact With Another Planet

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Watch These Brutal Simulations of Apocalyptic Planetary Collisions - Futurism

GitHub Just Sealed All Its Open Source Code in an Apocalypse-Proof Vault – Futurism

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Locked Up

Earlier this month, the code management platform GitHub sealed away its archive of open source software in an Arctic vault so deep that they say it could survive a nuclear blast.

The mildly-outlandish idea behind the move, Engadget reports, is to give a boost to future generations after a hypothetical civilization-ending catastrophe. Should that happen, whatever civilization emerges from the ashes wont have to start from scratch and could instead tap the knowledge of modern-day coders and engineers.

Its been almost a year since GitHub announced its plan to store the code in the Arctic World Archive, an abandoned Norwegian coal mine protected by hundreds of meters of permafrost. The cache is stored on a type of microfilm that can be read with a physical magnifying glass.

Also sealed in the same mine are Vatican records, movies, and a vast array of other digital archives. And theyre in good company: The Doomsday Seed Vault is located on the same island of Spitsbergen.

Its difficult to imagine a societal catastrophe thats just cataclysmic enough that the most pressing need for a new society is to recover lost software. But it doesnt hurt to have a copy backed up just in case.

Still, as Engadget reports, the most obvious benefit for archiving the open-source software may be for the developers involved: Anyone who contributed to a project that made its way into the Arctic World Archive gets to display a little badge next to their username on GitHub.

READ MORE: GitHub is done depositing its open source codes in the Arctic [Engadget]

More on arctic vaults: The Melting Arctic Is Releasing Poison, Disease and Nuclear Waste

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GitHub Just Sealed All Its Open Source Code in an Apocalypse-Proof Vault - Futurism

Uber Drivers Are Suing to Learn How the Company’s Algorithm Works – Futurism

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Black Box

Uber drivers in the UK are suing the company in a desperate bid to learn more about the ride-hailing apps algorithm, which governs their lives and income.

The core argument of the lawsuit, Business Insider reports, is that the companys decision to withhold personal data about drivers prevents them from understanding how the algorithm assigns them jobs and therefore impacts their livelihood. If it works, it could be a major win for gig-economy contractors trying to assert control over their work.

The App Drivers and Couriers Union, which is suing Uber on behalf of the drivers, argued that Uber violates GDPR when it tracks and monitors drivers by gathering data like late arrivals, cancellation records, and passenger complaints, according to BI.

Because the drivers cant access that data and arent told how its fed into the algorithm that decides their future ride assignments, the union claims that Uber is violating their digital privacy.

If the lawsuit succeeds and Uber drivers gain access to their records, it could set a lasting precedent for other gig workers who essentially report to and are managed by algorithms, BI reports.

With more power and authority granted to drivers, who Uber has repeatedly argued in court should not be considered employees, gig workers around the world could get a more important seat at the table.

READ MORE: Uber drivers are suing the company to better understand how they are managed by algorithms [Business Insider]

More on Uber: Uber Says Rides During Party Hours Are Keeping it Afloat

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Cast sights to West Indies in rethinking education options – The Philadelphia Tribune

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Has this pandemic had you rethinking your educational options? Have you always wanted to study in the Caribbean? Maybe this is the right time for you to venture out and explore another option.

Why not consider studying at the University of the West Indies?

Most Caribbean adults have heard about UWI. This world-class university is one of the Caribbeans gems with extremely high academic standards. As many colleges and universities are switching to online classes due to the spread of COVID-19, the UWI could be an alternative, offering a combination of online and in-person learning.

The university has three main campuses: the Mona Campus in Jamaica, the Cave Hill Campus in Barbados and the St. Augustine Campus in Trinidad and Tobago.

UWI centers are in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Monserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines.

According to its website, UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven facilities, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

UWI has been in existence since 1948 when most of the Caribbean countries were still a part of the British Commonwealth. Back then, the British government decided to establish the University College of the West Indies a branch of the University of London in Kingston, Jamaica.

In 1962, when Jamaica became an independent country, the college gained university status and later became the University of the West Indies. Jamaica was the only campus until the 1960s.

The university has a rich history. The St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Tobago was originally the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture. However in 1960 a decision was made to become a part of UWI. The Cave Hill campus on Barbados began in 1963 and was originally known as the College of Arts & Sciences. In 1970, the faculty of law was established at Cave Hill, which became an official part of the University of the West Indies system.

It is hard to believe that it has been about 60 years. The fact that there were 33 students initially and that the population has now grown to more than 40,000 says a lot about this learning institutions reputation and its staying power.

It is not surprising that UWI has become the largest education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean.

UWI has been instrumental in working with Caribbean public health agencies in combating the spread of the coronavirus. Its administration has done everything possible to ensure the safety of students.

In a letter to the student body, Dale Webber, a professor and official at UWI, laid out the plan for returning to the new normal on campus. So that you can see the big picture, here is an excerpt:

In keeping with physical distancing requirements, we are reviewing all our spaces to ensure that the physical distancing protocols are observed. This may result in shared/double room options being converted into single-dwelling spaces. This therefore limits the number of rooms available on campus for the 2020/21 Academic Year. Priority will be given to those students who: are required to do face-to-face based on their Programme (and need accommodation based on distance from campus); their residency outside of Jamaica or have internet access challenges (reside in areas with little to no network support). All other students wishing to reside in a Hall of Residence will be accommodated if the space is available.

Records indicate that there have only been 10 COVID-19 deaths in Jamaica, eight in Trinidad and Tobago, and seven in Barbados. So if you are successful in navigating the clearance and admission processes to one of the campuses, what a rewarding experience you will have.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. They are not necessarily intended to reflect the views of the Philadelphia Tribune.

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Cast sights to West Indies in rethinking education options - The Philadelphia Tribune

Marriott Is Opening a New All-Inclusive in Mexico Caribbean Journal – Caribbean Journal

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Marriott has signed an agreement to manage its first-ever all-inclusive Delta Hotels by Marriott resort in Mexicos Riviera Nayarit.

The resort will be set at what is now the 117-room Grand Matlali Hills Resort and Spa, which will undergo a significant transformation.

That will include an expansion to 300 rooms by 2023.

Marriott will be officially rebranding and managing the property in 2021.

The move is part of a wider foray into all-inclusive by Marriott, one that also includes several resort projects in the pipeline in the Caribbean.

We are excited to work with PB Puerto Bahia Residence, S.A. de C.V. to convert this property into the first all-inclusive Delta Hotels by Marriott hotel globally and bring the Delta Hotels by Marriott all-inclusive concept to our region, said Laurent de Kousemaeker, Chief Development Officer, Caribbean and Latin America for Marriott International. The long-awaited Delta Hotels by Marriott all-inclusive brand extension standards are now ready, and perfectly suited for conversions of full-service resorts, allowing our 142 million Marriott Bonvoy guests soon to experience this new concept.

The property, which is about 30 minutes from the Puerto Vallarta Airport, will include six food and beverage concepts, a beach club and a spa, among other amenities.

We are excited to sign a Delta Hotels by Marriott all-inclusive resort and work with Marriott International to manage the property, said Armando Vejar, CEO of PB Puerto Bahia Residence, S.A. de C.V. By bringing this new concept and brand to Riviera Nayarit we hope to elevate the offering for visitors and attract a new segment of guests to the destination.

CJ

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The Day After: Rethinking the future of the Caribbean – Barbados Advocate

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The Caribbean has largely been able to contain the spread of COVID-19 thanks to early action by policymakers. But the economic consequences are severe, given the standstill in tourism and remittances. GDP is anticipated to contract between 5-9%, with job losses estimated at over a quarter of the labor force. During these challenging times, let us pause and rethink the future opportunities for economic diversification in the Caribbean.

The pause in tourism is an opportunity to strengthen the sector, leveraging the Caribbeans unique characteristics, especially its vast ocean resources. The Blue Economy can boost tourism and create jobs and economic growth through sectors like fisheries, aquaculture, and renewable energy. Fisheries already generate 4% of jobs, but there is great potential for more. Many Caribbean countries have taken important steps to protect the pristine blue oceans and banned single-use plastic more can be done to strengthen regulatory frameworks for the marine environment.

Digital technology is a great niche area for the Caribbean and can bring transformational change. Todays COVID-19 world has starkly demonstrated the unparalleled contribution of technology in keeping individuals, families, countries, businesses and the world connected. Moving to a digital Caribbean means making citizen-centric public services accessible, enabling a reliable e-payment system, and fostering entrepreneurship. The Caribbean can leapfrog with its educated English-speaking population and benefit from proximity to North American markets. Moreover, it can build a home-grown digital services industry that serves the broader region.

Finally, reimagining the future of the Caribbean is not possible without its people. The region is rich in human resources, with a vibrant and entrepreneurial youth population eager to innovate. This is the biggest resource for the Caribbean to #RethinktheFuture in its march towards inclusion and resilience.

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The Day After: Rethinking the future of the Caribbean - Barbados Advocate

Inter-American Foundation and USAID Launch Joint Initiative to Foster Caribbean Disaster Resilience – US Embassy in Barbados

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At a meeting of the U.S.-Caribbean Resilience Partnership Working Group on Friday, July 10, the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) announced a $5 million initiative to strengthen community-led disaster preparedness, for which U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is providing $1 million.

Frequent and intensifying natural disasters over the past decade have disrupted small island nations infrastructure and major industries. The joint initiative, Building Community Resilience in the Eastern & Southern Caribbean, will ensure that U.S. foreign assistance reaches communities most vulnerable to natural disaster throughout the Eastern and Southern Caribbean. The IAF will leverage community strengths in preparing for and recovering from natural disasters by channeling direct, flexible funding to grassroots organizations and mobilizing matching local resourcestypically more than $1.50 for every $1 provided by the IAF in this region. Grassroots and community-based organizations in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean can apply for funding via the IAF website at https://www.iaf.gov/apply-for-grant/

The Inter-American Foundation (IAF) is a nimble and transformative U.S. government agency that invests in community-led development across Latin America and the Caribbean. The agency directly engages local leaders, innovators, and entrepreneurs in underserved areas to create more prosperous, peaceful, and democratic communities. The IAFs active portfolio includes more than 300 projects in 24 countries. For more information about the IAF, visit http://www.iaf.gov or contact: Rebecca Nelson, Media Liaison | Email: rnelson@iaf.gov | Telephone: +1 (202) 683-7188

USAID leads the United States Governments international development and humanitarian efforts to save lives, reduce poverty, strengthen democratic governance and help people progress beyond assistance. For more information about USAIDs work in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean, visit https://www.usaid.gov/barbados.

By U.S. Embassy Bridgetown | 21 July, 2020 | Topics: Events, News, Press Releases

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Inter-American Foundation and USAID Launch Joint Initiative to Foster Caribbean Disaster Resilience - US Embassy in Barbados

Hilton All-Inclusive Resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean Are All-New – TravelPulse

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Hilton Playa del Carmen Adult Resort Riviera Maya, Mexico

Newly renovated and managed by the experts at Playa Resorts, Hilton Playa del Carmen is an adults-only, Mexican-Caribbean escape, known for its air of casual elegance, romance and privacy. The all-new, all-suite, AAA Four Diamond-awarded resort is ideally situated on the white sands of eastern Mexicos Riviera Maya region and happens to be mere steps away from the celebrated Fifth Avenue shopping district.

All of its new suites feature private balconies or terraces, complete with private hot tubs, and gorgeous garden or ocean views. Elevated accommodations options include luxurious swim-up suites and Beachfront Walkout Suites. A stay in a One-Bedroom or Presidential Suites also carries with it the added benefit of personal butler service.

Guests enjoy unlimited access to food and beverages throughout the renewed property, including its eight a-la-carte restaurants and buffets, and seven bars and lounges. 24-hour in-suite room service is also included, as are soft drinks, beer and water in minibars, restocked daily.

Guests can kick back at the Tequileria & Cigar Club, or perhaps attend a cooking demonstration, or a tasting session led by professional mixologists, wine sommeliers and tequila connoisseurs. Other recreational offerings include dance and Zumba classes, introductory scuba-diving lessons, and access to various water sports and beach activities.

For an additional cost, guests can head to the onsite SPAzul to indulge in modern, natural or even ancient-style treatments, including a trip to the traditional Temazcal stone steam bath. Nightly entertainment also highlights the regions rich heritage through live music performances and professional, astounding Cirque du Soleil-style shows.

Hilton La Romana, An All-Inclusive Resort Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

Formerly Dreams La Romana, the reinvented Hilton La Romana family-friendly resort is designed to provide fun and enchantment for guests of all ages. Its spectacular, white-sand Playa Bayahibe beach has been awarded a Blue Flag Beach Certificationa global eco-label awarded for the fulfillment of strict environmental, safety and sustainability standards.

418 newly-renovated, family-sized guest rooms and suites, refurbished lobby, all-new restaurant options and a brand-new, splash-down waterpark with its own lazy river make Hilton La Romana the ideal spot for an experiencing unforgettable family getaway.

Unlimited dining and drinks (including top-shelf spirits) at any of the resorts six restaurants, eight bars and lounges, 24-hour room service, daily-refreshed minibars, free Wi-Fi and more come standard with room rates.

Parents and kids alike will appreciate the inclusion of a special Kids Club for younger guests ages three through twelve, and Teen Zone offering age-appropriate entertainment and recreation options for those ages thirteen through seventeen.

A disco, casino, theme-night parties and nightly entertainment are all included in the onsite offerings, as well as a full-service spa, sparkling swimming pools and, of course, a wide array of beach and water activities like snorkeling, kayaking and windsurfing.

Hilton La Romana, An All-Inclusive Adult Resort Punta Cana, Dominican Republic

The extraordinary all-inclusive Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Adult Resort, is newly reopened following its own extensive renovation, now even more elegantly modern than before. Nestled amid a lush tropical jungle that leads onto a pristine, breathtaking beach, the exquisite coastal resort has also earned its Blue Flag Beach Certification.

This Caribbean haven now boasts brand-new, comfortable and elegant guest accommodations that offer the ultimate in privacy, plus convenience. Its 356 guest rooms and suites all come with private balconies or terraces, offering a direct outlook over this paradisiacal destination.

Guests will revel in the sophisticated furnishings and luxurious bathrooms, and appreciate unlimited Wi-Fi, daily-stocked minibars and 24-hour room service included. Consider reserving a premium or swim-out suite, complete with upgraded amenities, for an even more indulgent experience.

Premium Club Suite guests also enjoy privileges such privileges as a private beach area and private pool with swim-up bar, exclusive access to the Mediterranean restaurant, Premium VIP Lounge access, where continental breakfast, afternoon hors doeuvres, exquisite desserts and fine liquors await, along with more even perks.

Guests of Hilton La Romana Adult Resort can take advantage of a slew of recreational offerings, including a world-class spa on site, nightly entertainment, a casino, dive center, brand-new waterpark, and a whole host of land and water activities. Plus, golf is available at any of four nearby courses, and additional excursions and tours are always an option for exploring this incredible destination.

Besides unlimited food and beverage at the resorts five onsite restaurants, and five lounges and bars, resort guests also enjoy access to the additional dining and drinking options at the neighboring Hilton La Romana All-Inclusive Resort at no extra charge.

For more information, visit hiltonbyplaya.com.

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Hilton All-Inclusive Resorts in Mexico and the Caribbean Are All-New - TravelPulse

Defeat Looming for Weary Windies After Batting Buckles – Caribbean News – caribbeannationalweekly.com

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MANCHESTER, England Battle-weary West Indies were staring at a heavy defeat after enduring one of their worst days of the tour, as Stuart Broads six-wicket haul followed by a trio of damaging half-centuries installed England as firm favourites to win the decisive third Test and retain the Wisden Trophy.

A shambolic third day at Old Trafford saw the Caribbean side concede a huge first innings lead of 172 after they were dismissed cheaply for 197 after resuming the morning on 137 for six, with the outstanding Broad taking all four wickets to end with six for 31.

England then stormed to 226 for two in their second innings thanks to half-centuries from Roy Burns (90), captain Joe Root (68 not out) and Dom Sibley (56) and when the declaration came at 6 pm (1 pm Eastern Caribbean time), West Indies had been handed an improbable target of 399 runs.

Left with just six overs to survive before the close, West Indies were once again hurt by Broad, the right-hander removing John Campbell (0) and nightwatchman Kemar Roach (4), to send the tourists limping to 10 for two and push his career tally to 499 wickets.

With thunderstorms in the forecast for nearly all of Mondays penultimate day, West Indies will keep an anxious watch on the skies, hoping the elements can help thwart Englands charge towards a seemingly inevitable victory.

To add to their woes, West Indies were further besieged by injury as wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich took a blow to his face in the eighth over of the England innings and played no further part in the contest, and fast bowlers Shannon Gabriel and Jason Holder were forced off the field at points with niggles.

In fact, Gabriel was limited to just five overs two before lunch and three following the resumption and never featured again.

Resuming the morning with the first goal of avoiding the follow-on of 170, West Indies flourished inside the first hour as Holder top-scored with 46 and Dowrich chipped in with 37, to deny England early success.

Holder, starting on 24, struck six fours off 82 balls in two hours while Dowrich faced 63 balls in just shy of two hours at the crease and stroked five fours.

The pair stretched their seventh wicket stand to 68 before being separated in the second over before the first drinks break when Holder, who had earlier been caught off a Chris Woakes no-ball on 38, played back when he should have been forward and was trapped lbw on the crease.

Rahkeem Cornwall followed in identical fashion for 10 with as many runs added at 188 for eight and three balls later in the same over, Roach edged a forward defensive prod for Root to take a low catch at first slip.

Dowrich chased quick runs before he was last out, skying an ill-timed heave to Woakes at mid on.

England easily survived the four overs before lunch taken at 10 without loss before pressing on in the second session, adding a further 76 without losing a wicket.

When a delivery from Gabriel burst through Dowrichs gloves and struck him on the mouth, Shai Hope took the gloves before reserve gloveman Joshua DaSilva was hastily called into action from the tenth over.

It proved the least of the Windies troubles as Burns and Sibley went about putting on a critical 114 for the first wicket, to push the lead close to the 300-run mark.

Burns struck 10 fours off 163 deliveries in just short of 4- hours while Sibley faced 132 balls in just shy of three hours and counted seven fours.

Holder returned for a new spell and got the breakthrough in his first over when he hit Sibley in front but there was no further immediate success for the tourists as Root joined Burns to post another 112 runs for the second wicket.

Root faced just 56 balls, smashing a six and eight fours three of which came in one over from Roach and carried him to his 49th half-century in Tests.

The left-handed Burns was eyeing his third Test hundred when he perished late in the day, top-edging a swing at off-spinner Roston Chase and skying a simple catch to DaSilva.

Opener John Campbell then failed to see off the new-ball burst, nicking Broad to Root at first slip in the second over to cap a miserable series where he managed only 84 runs from six innings.

And Roach followed in Broads next over, edging another defensive prod through to wicketkeeper Jo Buttler.

CMC

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Sandals Acquires A New Resort in the Caribbean – FTNnews.com

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The worlds leading all-inclusive company, Sandals Resorts International, its Beaches Resorts portfolio to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, following an acquisition.

The company is expanding its Beaches Resorts portfolio to St. Vincent and the Grenadines, its eighth island in the Caribbean, and a new destination for the brand, following the acquisition of Buccament Bay Spa and Resort.

The resort will be completely transformed to become the fourth Beaches Resorts for the brand, joining their award-winning family-friendly resorts in Jamaica and Turks & Caicos.

Sandals Resorts Internationals Founder and Chairman, the Hon. Gordon Butch Stewart states, Investing in St. Vincent and its captivating people, was not only compelling, but a natural next step for continued expansion within the Eastern Caribbean. Beginning with our first entry in Saint Lucia many years ago and more recently Grenada and Barbados, we are champions of growth for the Eastern Caribbean, and it has remained at the forefront of our expansion strategy, said Stewart. Expanding into a brand-new destination ushers in the tremendous opportunity for new and existing team members to experience a whole new way of life and professional growth path. The minute our customers land in St. Vincent, they will be enchanted with its magnificence. The resort hugs the Caribbean Sea and is nestled within a lush mountain range and neighboring rainforest. Best of all, its only a short drive from the newly constructed Argyle International Airport.

The agreement, which has been in the works for nearly a year, will bring Beaches Resorts to the archipelago chain known as the Jewels of the Caribbean. The resort will undergo extensive reimagination and renovations, stated Adam Stewart, Deputy Chairman of Sandals Resorts International. Each time we expand, we bring with us the full potential of our 40 years in hospitality with the creation of new jobs and skillsets through our Corporate University, the on-the-ground work of our Sandals Foundation, the dedicated airlift and comprehensive global marketing campaigns that always follow. As we look to the future, this growth stands for tremendous possibility.

The companys announcement is not only a signal of what is to come, but a reminder to the global travel and tourism sector that the future of Caribbean tourism is bright. With nearly 40 years of success within the all-inclusive industry, Sandals Resorts International will continue to innovate and provide the 5-Star Luxury Included vacation experience everyone has come to love.

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Sandals Acquires A New Resort in the Caribbean - FTNnews.com