Seychelles: Ethiopia Invites Seychelles to Invest in Its Tourism Industry – AllAfrica.com

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press release

The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Mr Haile Mariam Desalegn, has invited business interests in Seychelles to invest in Ethiopia, particularly in that country's tourism industry given Seychelles' wealth of know-how in that field.

The Ethiopian premier expressed this wish during a bilateral meeting with Seychelles President, Mr Danny Faure, who was in Ethiopia to attend the 28th Ordinary Summit of the Africa Union, his first since acceding to the presidency in October last year.

During the bilateral, which was also attended on the Seychelles side by Foreign Secretary Marie-Louise Potter and Ambassador Joseph Nourrice, the Ethiopian Prime minister agreed for a cooperation agreement to be signed between his country and Seychelles while the two heads of Government also spoke about the need to extend cooperation to areas like the fight against terrorism, reform of the African Union and climate change, with a view of working out common positions in international fora. The setting up of a Joint Ministerial Commission will be the key driver of the cooperation between Seychelles and the landlocked country of the Horn of Africa.

Speaking to the local media after his meeting with the Prime Minister at State House, President Faure said that bilateral relations between the two countries will fly to greater heights.

Seychelles has good connectivity to Ethiopia through the latter's national carrier which has five weekly flights between Victoria and Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian airline is also the main vector of trade between the two countries.

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Orlando Bloom Returns as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean 5 First Look – MovieWeb

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Last night, Disney aired a Super Bowl trailer for their highly-anticipated Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, which is set to hit theaters on May 26, 2017. Many eagle-eyed fans noticed that this new footage offered our first look at Orlando Bloom's Will Turner, who has changed quite a bit since we last saw him in 2007's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The actor and his beloved character didn't appear in the last swashbuckling adventure, 2011's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and while he is returning in this movie, it remains to be seen how large or small a role he may have.

A number of Twitter users captured screen grabs from the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales trailer last night to show us our first look at Will Turner. Way back in September 2014, Orlando Bloom hinted that he may return, after taking over as the new "Davy Jones" in At World's End. Brenton Thwaites has also hinted in the past that the story will center on the son of Davy Jones, which could be the character he's playing, but that hasn't been confirmed. When Disney announced the full cast list, Orlando Bloom's Will Turner/Davy Jones was nowhere to be found, but now we finally have confirmation that he is returning.

At the end of At World's End, Will Turner committed himself to a 10-year tour of duty as the captain of the Flying Dutchman. There was also a post-credits scene where he returned ashore to meet the son he had with Elizabeth (Keira Knightley) for the first time. It's worth noting that it's possible Will's tour as Davy Jones may be coming to an end, since At World's End was released on May 24, 2007, and Dead Men Tell No Tales arrives in theaters May 26, 2017, exactly 10 years and two days apart from each other. That hasn't been confirmed by Disney yet, but hopefully we'll find out more about how large or small Will Turner's role is in this big screen adventure.

Johnny Depp returns to the big screen as the iconic, swashbuckling anti-hero Jack Sparrow in the all-new Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. The rip-roaring adventure finds down-on-his-luck Captain Jack feeling the winds of ill-fortune blowing strongly his way when deadly ghost sailors, led by the terrifying Captain Salazer (Javier Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle bent on killing every pirate at sea, notably Jack. Jack's only hope of survival lies in the legendary Trident of Poseidon, but to find it he must forge an uneasy alliance with Carina Smyth (Kaya Scodelario), a brilliant and beautiful astronomer, and Henry (Brenton Thwaites), a headstrong young sailor in the Royal Navy.

At the helm of the Dying Gull, his pitifully small and shabby ship, Captain Jack seeks not only to reverse his recent spate of ill fortune, but to save his very life from the most formidable and malicious foe he has never faced. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales also stars Kevin R. McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Golshifteh Farahani as the sea-witch Shansa, David Wenham as Scarfield, Stephen Graham as Scrum, and Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa. Take a look at this new image of Orlando Bloom from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, as we get closer to the May 26, 2017 release date. We also have more new photos which arrived shortly after the Super Bowl trailer, and you can take a look at the trailer itself below.

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Orlando Bloom Returns as Will Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean 5 First Look - MovieWeb

Link-Caribbean Awards US$125000 To Five Caribbean Firms – Caribbean360.com (subscription)

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Barbadian recipient Shannon Clarke from Carepoint was one of the five.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Monday February 6, 2017 Five Caribbean businesses are at a stage closer to securing private investment having each received US$25,000 through the LINK-Caribbean Investment Readiness Grant programme.

The five firms are Carepoint and Caribbean Transit Solutions from Barbados; Bluedot Media and Innovative Menu Solutions Ltd from Jamaica and SystemIz Incorporated from Trinidad and Tobago.

According to Chris McNair, Manager for Competitiveness and Innovation at Caribbean Export, the grants will be used to assist firms in making the necessary improvements to their businesses with the aim of attracting greater investment from private investors, such as Business Angels within the next six months.

The firms were selected from a slate of 134 applicants from across the region, 7 of which were afforded the opportunity to pitch their businesses to a panel of judges in the hope of securing an investment readiness grant. LINK-Caribbean, a programme of the Caribbean Export Development Agency (Caribbean Export) supports the development of an early stage Investor eco-system within the region. Launched last September, it is funded by the World Bank and sponsored by Canada.

For many years Caribbean entrepreneurs were disadvantaged because of a lack of funding opportunities in comparison to our first world counterparts, with the LINK Caribbean grant we now have an opportunity to show the world that great, disruptive companies can be borne from here, expressed Larren Peart of Bluedot Media.

Larren Peart of Bluedot Media

Barbadian recipient Shannon Clarke from Carepoint expressed his humility for his selection and spoke of looking forward to the guidance from Business Angels and importantly their assistance to help push the adoption of ICT in the delivery of healthcare throughout the Caribbean.

Khalil Bryan of Caribbean Transport Solutions, also from Barbados, highlighted some of the key initiatives hosted by World Bank and Caribbean Export.

Starting from 2015, their team hosted entrepreneur sessions to sensitize us to key items that would prepare us to raise capital to providing support as we deploy capital from the IR grant. They have truly been a catalyst to improve the investment climate in the region from building angel groups to disbursing grant funding to prepare us for investment. We appreciate the role that they have played and would encourage them to continue in this vein as entrepreneurship will truly be a catalyst to impact the economies of our region, he said.

Khalil Bryan of Caribbean Transport Solutions

Aun Rahman, Financial Sector Specialist for the World Bank who also has responsibility for EPICs Access to Finance programme, stated that the Bank is encouraged with the initial response to LINK-Caribbeans first grant cycle.

We are looking forward to building a stronger pipeline of more applicants who will be eligible to become beneficiaries under the programme in future grant cycles, Rahman said.

In addition to these grants, LINK-Caribbean provides other support activities to stimulate early stage investing in the region. It facilitates the development of deal-flow for early-stage investors through the Regional Angel Investor Network (RAIN).

We strongly encourage entrepreneurs and investors to join RAIN to uncover new investment opportunities throughout the Caribbean, added McNair.

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Michael Perry: Caribbean work day | Recent columns by Michael … – Madison.com

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We had the opportunity to visit relatives in a sunny place and did so. In 48 hours we went from shoveling snow to digging sand from our shorts. At the moment it seems anything I write especially describing experiences of extreme privilege such as this, and I acknowledge it as such must be filtered through a scrim of humility in the face of current events. But I am also trying to live beyond my generation and continue to hope, that by drawing my children into environs where people different than us have their own ways of being neighborly, the kids will grow up less willing to navigate based on misallocations of fear. Lest you think this is some sort of self-congratulatory after-school special, we also spent time during this getaway arguing about screen time, chores, bedtime and general scheduling. There was some huffing and grumping and retreating to rooms, and thats just speaking for myself.

Within hours of our arrival we spent some time in and on the Caribbean, and there is no better way for a well-larded cheesehead fresh out of the slush to realize he is such than to stand shin-deep in the surf as the sun converts his scalp into a crepe skillet. The effect is heightened by the addition of a neon pink snorkel mask and flippers. To see me hit the surf is to observe an albino walrus with balance issues trying to exit the tavern only to belly-flop into the stock tank. When I finally wind up floating face down, I am amazed to see fish that have clearly escaped from someones aquarium. When you are raised on walleye and northern, you go ga-ga over the simplest tropical minnow.

Another benefit of unseasonable (to me) sun (lets also call it cheaters sun) is that when you spend half the day lurching around in foot fins and sweating like youre baling hay when youre really just sitting there, your brain rewires itself so that eating feels like an essential and hard-earned ritual necessary to keep up with all the calories that evaporate simply through nonstop sun exposure. The writer Jim Harrison once wrote that Only in the Midwest is overeating considered an act of heroism, and he was right, but the sad subtopic is that when we overeat during the cramped dark days of winter, the post-Calvinist guilt kicks in. Empty calories are a self-defeating bulwark against the encroaching ice banks in your brain, whereas down here with your head addled by the scent of 50 SPF sunblock, you rediscover food as a form of celebration compatible with the environs.

At one point during the vacation we took a day to help our relatives do some projects: painting, cleaning and fixing windows, general maintenance. Considering the free room and board we were receiving, this little break from the sunburn schedule seemed the least we could do. There was grumbling from junior quarters, to which I responded, Hey, how bout you go out and drag the tarp off the woodpile and haul in about three loads? at which point washing the screens suddenly seemed like a form of celebration compatible with the environs.

An original Roughneck Grace column exclusive to the Wisconsin State Journal. Audio versions may air on Tent Show Radio(tentshowradio.com). Read more from Michael Perry at http://www.sneezingcow.com.

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New Kokomo bar has Caribbean theme – Kokomo Tribune

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KOKOMO Jerry and Alice Hatfield like to travel. They especially enjoy the Caribbean, and with their new bar and restaurant, The Great Escape, they hope to capture the mood of a laid back Caribbean vacation.

Located at 2411 N. Washington St., in what used to be the bar Kathys Place, the Hatfields want their establishment to bring something new to the Kokomo bar scene.

Theres no other place in town like it, said Jerry. Its just a cool atmosphere.

The Caribbean theme hits you instantly when you step foot into the Great Escape. A large mural depicting tropical wildlife wraps around the circumference of the ceiling. The actual bar is similarly decorated with decals from Clifford Signs Inc. in Kokomo.

We wanted something different, Alice said. Not where most bars are dark and gloomy; we wanted something that made you feel relaxed and cheerful.

Thats where they got the motivation for the name they really do want customers to feel like theyve made a great escape to somewhere warm and sunny.

The Hatfields did the designing on their own along with Jerrys father, Milburn Hatfield, who has owned The Hoosier Bar on West Morgan Street for 37 years.

Each table is uniquely decorated. One has beer bottle caps that form a design beneath a pane of glass. Another is brightly painted with a tropical pattern.

Another is decorated in honor of the military, and another to union workers.

Their first day open was on Jan. 26. They did very little advertising, but were still able to draw a crowd. The next day, a Friday, Alice said they had the place full, with a lot of repeat customers. Theres going to be a grand opening coming up, but they want the place to be a bit more up and rolling before then.

As for the menu, they spoke highly of the kahuna burger, which sports ham, pineapple and kahuna sauce as toppings. They also have fish, including Cajun fish nuggets, and gyros that have been pretty popular.

Of course, they also offer a full line up of bar food. Sometime soon, theyll be equipped to serve frozen margaritas.

On Thursdays they sell domestic beer for $2 and have free games of pool.

There are a few additions they hope to offer in the future, including a karaoke night, and have live bands and DJs perform. This summer, Jerry said he hopes to have a beer garden outside.

The Great Escape is open seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. to 3 a.m.

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‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ Actor Brenton Thwaites to Star in Thriller ‘Ghosts of War’ – Variety

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Brenton Thwaites, who will star in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, has boarded the thriller Ghosts of War.

The Butterfly Effect and The Final Destination helmer Eric Bress will direct the film= from his own script.

Miscellaneous Entertainments D. Todd Shepherd, Joe Simpson, and Shelley Madison are producing and financing the project. Adrian Jayasinha will also executive produce.

Highland Film Group will handle international sales and introduce the movie to buyers this week at the Berlin Film Festivals European Film Market. CAA will represent the North America rights.

Ghosts of War follows five battle-hardened American soldiers assigned to hold a French chateau near the end of World War II. Formerly occupied by the Nazi high command, this respite quickly descends into madness when they encounter a supernatural enemy far more terrifying than anything seen on the battlefield.

Thwaites will play the leader, a brilliant strategist who is plagued by battle fatigue. He will be seen in May in the fifth installment of Disneys Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Dead Men Tell No Tales. He also recently shot Interviewwith God and Office Uprising, which he executive produced.

Thwaites is represented by UTA, United Management, and Industry Entertainment. Bress is represented by UTA and Management 360.

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Bahamas Victory Could Propel Lincicome to 2017 Solheim Cup – LPGA (press release)

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Brittany Lincicome has belted her way into the hunt for what could be her sixth consecutive berth on Team USA at the 2017 Solheim Cup after her season opening win at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic.

"Making the Solheim Cup team is by far my number-one goal," Lincicome said. "Getting a win is just icing on the cake. To make the Solheim Cup team and play for (Team USA Captain) Juli Inkster again would just be a dream come true.

Known as "Bam Bam" for her monstrous tee shots, Lincicome jumped out to an early lead at the Pure Silk Bahamas while setting a 36-hole course record 129. She finished the final round in a tie with Lexi Thompson at 26 under par. Lincicome won the tournament title with a birdie putt on the first playoff hole. The Jan. 29 win marked her seventh career victory on the LPGA Tour and her first since she won the ANA Inspiration in 2015. The win also catapulted the 31-year-old Floridian to seventh place on the 2017 Solheim Cup point rankings.

Lincicome brings an impressive long game. She's hit drives as long as 369 yards and ranks third on the LPGA this season in average driving distance. She can easily challenge the par 5 holes, which could give her team opportunities to card eagles and birdies at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, site of the 2017 Solheim Cup. She also has improved her short game, showcasing an excellent putting stroke at the Pure Silk Bahamas.

While her early season win is a confidence builder, Lincicome says success in the match play format at the 2017 Solheim Cup will rely heavily on team chemistry. She ought to know, having played for Team USA in every Solheim Cup since 2007, where she has a combined match play record of 5-11-2.

"The Solheim Cup week is a very stressful week. Obviously we want to play well for ourselves, play well for our country and play well for our captain," Lincicome said.

"There's an extra pressure on it than a normal week when you play individually for yourself. Obviously the emotions are very high in the locker room. So I just try to be myself, pump everybody up and encourage everyone as best as I can."

Will Lincicome deliver her long blasts for Team USA? The next six months will tell. Get your tickets now to catch all the action when Team USA faces off against Team Europe at the 2017 Solheim Cup at Des Moines Golf and Country Club, in West Des Moines, Iowa, August 14-20.

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Bahamas Victory Could Propel Lincicome to 2017 Solheim Cup - LPGA (press release)

Bahamas tops Caribbean on crime’s economic cost | The Tribune – Bahamas Tribune

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By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas leads the entire Caribbean on economic losses stemming from crime, losing $434 million or almost 5 per cent of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) to the scourge.

The extent of crimes impact on Bahamian economic output and wider society is laid bare in an Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) report, which shows that out of 17 Latin American and Caribbean countries, only Honduras and El Salvador incur greater annual costs as a proportion of GDP.

The study, The costs of crime and violence: New insights in Latin America and the Caribbean, reveals that the Bahamas is one of only two countries in the region where crime costs its citizens and residents more than $1,000 per person annually.

Once currency differences are accounted for, crime was shown as costing Bahamas residents $1,177 per capita annually, second only to Trinidad & Tobagos $1,189 per person.

The IDB study described crimes costs as particularly high in the Bahamas, while placing Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago in the same category, with more than 75 per cent of Bahamian companies spending money on security personnel, technology and equipment.

Again, the Bahamas is second only to Trinidad in the proportion of companies forced into expenditure on security measures, which has become an everyday feature of life for too many businesses.

The private security industry has been one of the few growth areas in the Bahamian economy since the 2008-2009 recession, reflecting just how strong a grip crime - and the fear of crime - maintain on the private sector and wider society.

In Honduras, private spending is almost 2 per cent of GDP more than twice the regional average and the higher bound is above 3 per cent, the IDB said of spending on security measures.

El Salvador follows with costs incurred by the private sector hovering between 1.6 and 2.7 per cent of GDP. The Bahamas and Brazil also show high private costs, with estimates varying between 1 and 1.9 per cent.

The IDB study also found that when it came to the Caribbeans urban areas, New Providence and Nassau led the way when it came to the number of physical assaults, robberies, burglaries, thefts and car thefts per capita. Nassau was above the global and regional average for all categories apart from burglary and theft.

The findings again illustrate why it is a matter of national urgency, and priority, for the Bahamas to get a grip on crime, given the enormous economic and social costs it continues to inflict, and which threaten to both undermine its main industries and overall competitiveness.

Not surprisingly, the three countries in the [Caribbean] that lose the highest percentages of their GDP to crime are those with the highest levels of violent crime: The Bahamas, Jamaica, and Trinidad and Tobago, the IDB study found.

The high levels of crime likewise affect the private sector in the [Caribbean]. The number of firms in the Caribbean experiencing losses due to crime, and the proportion of firms that pay for private security, are higher than the international averages. These costs draw money away from other activities that could potentially enhance productivity - such as the amount spent on research and development, which is lower than the amount spent on crime overall.

Finally, although government expenditure on combating crime is relatively high, the money is spent overwhelmingly on police, but this has not translated into higher police effectiveness, the report continued.

Moreover, with precious little of the total expenditure going to the judicial systems and crime prevention, much of the sub-region has ended up with overcrowded prisons, where nearly half of the detainees may wait years before going to trial.

The report, which has been studied by Tribune Business, seeks to measure crimes costs from three perspectives. Apart from the impact on the private sector, and the spending by households and companies on security, it also analyses the cost to government in terms of public expenditures on the judicial and prison systems, plus the police force.

And, finally, it also attempts to measure crimes social costs, particularly its impact on Bahamians quality of life, and income lost by the imprisonment of inmates at Fox Hill prison.

The Bahamas was found to lead the Caribbean by almost a full percentage point of GDP when it came to crimes costs, estimated to cost this nation 4.79 per cent of annual economic output - a sum equivalent to $434 million.

Only Jamaica came near to the Bahamas at 3.99 per cent of GDP per annum, with just Honduras and El Salvador ahead of this nation in the Latin American and Caribbean region, both losing more than 6 per cent of their annual economic output.

Adjusting for different currencies and exchange rates, the IDB study found: Trinidad & Tobago and the Bahamas have the highest costs at well over US$1,000 per capita in international US dollars.

Argentina is a relatively distant third, with per capita costs slightly below $700 in international US dollars. Guatemala, Paraguay, and Honduras, in that order, have the lowest per capita costs at or below $300 in international US dollars.

The Bahamas was also shown to be above the regional average when it came to income lost as a result of murders/homicides, the report pegging this at almost 0.5 per cent of annual economic output - a sum equal to $40-$50 million.

On average, foregone income related to homicides represents 0.32 per cent of GDP, the IDB study said. However, this average hides enormous variability across countries.

The Bahamas has the third highest homicide cost, at 0.48 per cent of GDP..... The third country classified as having a high social cost of homicides [after Honduras and El Salvador] is the Bahamas, with an average cost from homicides of 0.53 per cent of GDP during the sample period. The Bahamas had a peak cost of 0.64 per cent in 2011, and the lowest value in 2010 at 0.47 per cent.

The Bahamas also incurred one of the high costs in income foregone as a result of the incarcerated prison population at Fox Hill, the IDB estimating this as equivalent to 0.35 per cent of GDP - around $30-$40 million - as result of inmates not being engaged in productive work.

Adding this to the 0.3 per cent of GDP spent by the Government on running Fox Hill prison, the report found the Bahamas was spending 0.65 per cent of its annual economic output on incarceration - a proportion that was the second highest loss in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

Taking all this into account, the Bahamas led the Caribbean in terms of the social costs inflicted by crime. Overall, social costs of crime are lowest in Chile, at 0.28 per cent of GDP, followed by Argentina and Barbados, both at 0.30 per cent, the IDB study found.

Countries with the highest costs are Honduras, at 2.19 per cent of GDP, El Salvador, at 1.44 per cent, and the Bahamas, at 0.94 per cent.

When it came to government spending on the police/security forces, and crime prevention, the IDB report found that the Bahamas lagged behind only Jamaica and Barbados, pegging this at between 1.15 per cent and 1.94 per cent of this countrys GDP.

However, conversely, the Bahamas and these other two nations were shown as spending the least - around 0.06 per cent of GDP - on their judicial systems and the administration of justice.

The IDB report said this overreliance on the police to combat crime had resulted in the Bahamas having the highest ratio of police to citizens in the region - some 846 officers per 100,000 persons.

However, high police density has not necessarily resulted in rapid police response or higher police effectiveness in solving and investigating crime, the study added.

Referring to a survey of persons living in Nassau and four other Caribbean metropolitan areas, the report said: Of those polled...., an average of 56 per cent said that if they called the police because someone was entering their home, it would take the police more than 30 minutes to arrive.

It would take more than three hours, according to 9 per cent of respondents, and 2.5 per cent said there are no police in their area at all.

The Bahamas, though, was said to have the highest murder rate detection based on 2013 data, pegged at 51 per cent.

And the Christie administration has been attempting to address the justice systems weaknesses via the $20 million Citizen Security initiative with the IDB, increasing the number of criminal courts and recently unveiling the Office of the Public Defender.

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Bahamas tops Caribbean on crime's economic cost | The Tribune - Bahamas Tribune

Miami hosting Venezuela-Bahamas Davis Cup tie – Tennis Magazine

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Miami hosting Venezuela-Bahamas Davis Cup tie
Tennis Magazine
It decided not to play the tie at home because of economic concerns in the country, instead moving it to Doral, Florida. But with an area population that is 17 percent Venezuelan, the team should still receive plenty of backing from the crowd. The ...

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Miami hosting Venezuela-Bahamas Davis Cup tie - Tennis Magazine

CHTA Donates $25000 for Bahamas hurricane relief – Yahoo Finance

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NASSAU, Bahamas, Feb. 2, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) presented The Bahamas with a $25,000 check to aid in restoration efforts following Hurricane Matthew.

Hotels throughout the Caribbean united for a joint fundraising initiative to bring relief to those countries in the region that were seriously impacted by the storm.

Hurricane Matthew blasted through parts of The Bahamas in October damaging several major hotel properties, thousands of schools, businesses and homes. Grand Bahama and Andros were the hardest hit islands. New Providence also suffered extensive damage.

CHTA President, Karolin Troubetzkoy, presented the check to The Bahamas Hotel Tourism Association's (BHTA) President Carlton Russell on Tuesday night during the opening ceremony for Caribbean Travel Marketplace at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort.

"When Hurricane Matthew wreaked havoc on parts of Haiti and The Bahamas, our Caribbean countries and the industry responded," Troubetzkoy said. "I wish to thank those who answered our personal appeal in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. The hotels donated hotel stays, which were auctioned online... I am pleased to announce that we were able to raise close to $70,000 for The Bahamas and Haiti."

The Bahamas was given $25,000. The remaining money will go towards Haiti relief efforts.

The CHTA was the latest in a long line of tourism partners that donated to The Bahamas for relief and recovery efforts.

The Miami HEAT, the Miami Dolphins, the Washington Redskins and shipping company The Bonnier Marine Group, among many other organizations, provided relief in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

Director General of The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism, Joy Jibrilu, said the outpouring of love has been amazing.

"Our partners have risen to the occasion," Jibrilu said. "The people of The Bahamas thank them for their kindness and support. Their donations will be put to good use. We are blessed to have such amazing friends in the region and around the world."

The Islands Of The Bahamas have a place in the sun for everyone. Each island has its own personality and attractions for a variety of vacation styles with some of the world's best golfing, scuba diving, fishing, sailing, boating, as well as, shopping and dining. The destination offers an easily accessible tropical getaway and provides convenience for travelers with preclearance through U.S. customs and immigration, and the Bahamian dollar is on par with the U.S. dollar. Do everything or do nothing, just remember It's Better in The Bahamas. For travel packages, activities and accommodations information, call 1-800-Bahamas or visit http://www.Bahamas.com. Look for The Bahamas on the web on Facebook Twitter and YouTube

A photo accompanying this release is available at: http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=42129

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CHTA Donates $25000 for Bahamas hurricane relief - Yahoo Finance

Survival in the Bahamas – Lifestyle – The Daily Herald – Columbia, TN – Columbia Daily Herald

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By JAY POWELL jpowell@c-dh.net

Reconnecting with old friends after years, or sometimes decades, are opportunities I wish would happen more times than they do.

Its nice to see how the years have treated the other person, how theyve navigated the labyrinthine ups and downs of surviving adulthood. There is also the chance to reflect on how much Ive grown since that time, from back when I was younger and interacting with this person was part of my normal routine.

Some friends have fared better than others. Either way, there are always great stories to relive and new ones to discover in each other.

I had such an experience last weekend, with a friend who I had not spent time with in more than 10 years. We reconnected last fall at a music festival when we discovered we both wound up working in media. Where it all began, however, was a tale of survival involving a group of teenagers marooned on an island in The Bahamas during the summer of 2004.

Our mission was to travel to an island called Eleuthra, which spans about 100 miles and has a population of only a few thousand people, many of them poor.

We were to split up in two groups. A few of us were to spend each day at a local daycare working with children, while the rest of us strapped on our work boots and built a house. I was in the latter group, probably because the job involved heavy lifting and smashing things.

That was our quest, or at least the plan according to what we were told.

It so happened we arrived on the island a few days early. Another group was stationed at our headquarters for the time being, and they had no place for us. We were left with two choices swim for the States, or find shelter.

Being a bunch of young people seeped in pop culture, we all started thinking about Lord of The Flies, Survivor or Robinson Crusoe. Lost had just become a popular new television show, so there were jokes about looking for secret hatches and being watched by the others. It also didnt help team morale when our chaperones on the island approached us carrying machine guns.

Thankfully, we found an old school to hole up in for a few nights, the first night bunking together in a large room like inside a crowded army barracks.

When the heat became too much to handle, about six or eight of us grabbed our mattresses and lay down on a nearby basketball court. After days of traveling on planes, boats, buses and the realization that about 20 people were now homeless and miles from their beds, gazing up into the clear sky and seeing the entire universe above left us all speechless.

The next day, we did what a bunch of teenage boys and girls do when stranded on an island with nothing but time on their hands: we roamed around searching for food, leapt off cliff edges into barracuda-infested waters, trapped crabs and other critters. Mostly, we just wanted to know where the heck we had landed the night before, and just how far away from civilization, at least as we knew it, we now stood.

After a few days of roughing it in the wild, we all became closer with one another than on any trip like that Id taken before or sense. Surviving those first few days was a test of our abilities to keep it together when faced with a great challenge, allowed us to bond and come up with ideas to pass the time or keep our minds off the current situation.

We met plenty of locals, did little odd jobs, wandered into a food market and even watched a reggae band. Ill have to tell you about the life-changing fear that runs through a person when you drive a truck with no brakes offroad sometime.

Life could have been worse for being lost on an island, thats for sure. The whole experience made it so when the real work finally started, we were more ready than ever.

I still keep a pack of photographs from that trip I take with me everywhere I move. Its nice to see pictures of those friends I once knew, and to think about what theyre probably doing now. Thanks to Facebook, its not such a stretch to find out these days.

Its also fun to see how long my hair was back then, and the progressions of our sunburns from those days in sunny Eleuthra 13 years ago, when at one point we were convinced our lives were doomed.

Jay Powell is a reporter for The Daily Herald. Contact him at jpowell@c-dh.net and follow him on Twitter at @JayPowellCDH.

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Survival in the Bahamas - Lifestyle - The Daily Herald - Columbia, TN - Columbia Daily Herald

No Elections Just Yet, Bahamas Prime Minister Says | Caribbean360 – Caribbean360.com (subscription)

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The Bahamas Prime Minister Perry Christie is now in no rush to ring the election bell.

NASSAU, The Bahamas, Friday February 3, 2017 There will be no snap elections in The Bahamas, Prime Minister Perry Christie has said in the face of heightened expectation. Elections are not in the near future, he told Parliament this week.

In fact, he served notice that government still had some unfinished business on its agenda.

Responding to concerns raised by the opposition Free National Movement about governments failure to account for several controversial projects, Christie said his administration was preparing to bring those matters before the House in the near future.

The announcement of elections not being called anytime soon appears to be a change of heart on the part of the Prime Minister who was hinting late last year that he was ready to ring the bell.

Not only did he urge party supporters to get registered now, but he cautioned that things will go fast and furious.

But there has been concern that Bahamians appear not be in an election mood, with voter registration at an all-time low.

The Nassau Guardian reported that only 92,000 voters, around half of anticipated voters, had registered.

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Offshore Drillers Are Still Seeking Recovery Enjoyed by Shale – Bloomberg

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February 6, 2017, 4:16 PM EST February 7, 2017, 12:01 AM EST

While oil drillers in U.S. shale basins are starting to see business come back, their offshore brethren will have to wait for prices to surge well above $60 a barrel.

U.S. offshore operators like Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. and Atwood Oceanics Inc. are down more than 15 percent in the last month, as companies focus on onshore oil that reaps better returns. With oil trading near $53 a barrel, firms are looking toward booming plays like the Permian Basin in West Texas and the Scoop and Stack formations in Oklahoma, according to Marc Edwards, Diamond Offshores chief executive officer.

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Members in the Bloomberg Intelligence Global Offshore Drilling Competitive Peers Index sank 5 percent Monday.As demand continues to fall and the number of idle rigs rises, the offshore drilling industry remains a few years away from a rebound, Atwood Oceanics management said on a call with investors and analysts.

The idea of $60 oil pushing producers to go offshore might be optimistic, David Anderson, an analyst at Barclays Plc, said by phone. Even though the costs and the time to market have come down, offshore is nowhere near as enticing as onshore drilling.

While offshore drillers are using the same number of rigs as a year ago, onshore focused companies are continuing to add rigs and expand production. U.S. drillers are continuing to boost production, adding 267 rigs in the last eight months, according to Baker Hughes Inc. data reported on Friday.

The Permian Basin has seen production double and a jump in merger activity as companies that are operating in the region are taking advantage of breakeven levels that are much lower than their deepwater competitors.

What were seeing, especially today, is a recognition that onshore and offshore drilling are in two separate cycles that are moving at very different paces, said Anderson.

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Offshore Drillers Are Still Seeking Recovery Enjoyed by Shale - Bloomberg

Japan ignores protests, begins offshore construction work on … – RT

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Despite strong local opposition, the Japanese authorities began offshore construction work aimed at relocating a US Marine Corps base on the island of Okinawa.

The US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is being moved from densely populated Ginowan to a less populated location in eastern Okinawa the Henoko coastal area of Nago. Last week, US Defense Secretary James Mattis and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks in Tokyo and agreed to go ahead with the plan.

The offshore construction work, which started on Monday, will see over 200 concrete blocks dumped in the sea to create a screen, preventing debris and sediment generated from coastal revetment work from damaging the environment.

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Tokyo will also make sure that an undersea survey in the area is carried out, using the same vessels which earlier delivered the blocks to the site, Kyodo news agency reported.

Based on relevant law, the government will pay as much consideration as possible to the natural environment and the livelihoods of local people as we move forward with work to relocate (the base to) Henoko, Yoshide Suga, Japanese chief cabinet secretary, said.

Around 100 people gathered outside Camp Schwab, another US base near the construction site, to protest the relocation again on Monday.

The demonstrators held banners reading No to new Henoko base and Independence from colonialism, AP reported.

Many residents, including Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga, object to the heavy US military presence on the island, saying that the Futenma base should be removed, not just relocated.

They cite jet crashes related to the US bases and sexual assaults linked to US military personnel as major reasons for concern.

Large-scale protests against the US bases, which gather thousands of people, are staged regularly on the island.

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Onaga is now expected to refuse the renewal of a permit for moving coral reefs in the construction area, which expires in March, in order to stall the Futenma base relocation, Kyodo said.

The Okinawa governor visited Washington last week, reiterating his strong stance against the US bases on the island.

US military bases occupy 6 percent of the whole of Japan and 70 percent of those US military bases are in places where the population density is about the same as Tokyo. I don't like it anymore, Onaga said.

The Futenma base relocation began in October 2015, but was suspended due to resistance from the Okinawa authorities and population.

The work was resumed by the government on December 27 after the Supreme Court rejected an injunction order earlier issued by the Okinawa governor.

This is a country ruled by law, and we feel that both the state and Okinawa Prefecture will cooperate and act sincerely in continuing with the reclamation work, in line with the Supreme Court ruling, Cabinet Secretary Suga said.

READ MORE: US F-35 fighter jets arrive at military base in Japan in 1st overseas deployment

Tokyo believes that the relocation of the base is the only solution to move it away from the densely populated area, while not undermining the Japan-US security alliance.

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Further decline in North Sea offshore supply work – BBC News

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Further decline in North Sea offshore supply work
BBC News
A new study has confirmed the UK's oil and gas supply chain saw its turnover decline in 2015. The report by business advisers EY indicates the fall in the price of oil led to a fall in business activity for firms serving North Sea producers. They ...
Day two of our probe into the offshore crisis that is threatening to destroy Scotland's oil industryThe Scottish Sun

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Further decline in North Sea offshore supply work - BBC News

Obama now holidaying on Richard Branson’s private island – SBS

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Two weeks after leaving office, former President Barack Obama has been spotted on holiday at Moskito Island, a private property in the British Virgin Islands owned by billionaire businessman Richard Branson.

Images and video posted on social media show Obama and his wife Michelle, and Branson waving to cameras on the island.

Former guests on the private island reportedly includeJimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela and Tony Blair, as well as the late Diana Princess of Wales and along list of celebrities.

In August 2011, The Great House on the island was destroyed in a fire during Tropical Storm Irene. Actress Kate Winslet was staying there at the time, along with Sir Richard's relatives.

The Obamas will return to Washington DC where the familyplans to stay while daughter Sasha finishes high school.

In his first public statement since leaving office, Mr Obama said he was heartened by the engagement of communities around the US in the wake of President Trumps immigration order.

Citizens exercising their constitutional right to assemble, organise, and have their voices heard by their elected officials is exactly what we expect to see when American values are at stake, the statement read.

The former president a bestselling author before running for the top job has also said he hopes to write a book.

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Obama now holidaying on Richard Branson's private island - SBS

President Obama Is Posted Up with His Hat Backwards on Richard Branson’s Private Island – Esquire.com

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All in all, it hasn't been the best few months of Barack Obama's life. The moment he had been looking forward to for at least three-and-a-half yearsgetting the hell out of Washingtonwas kind of ruined by that whole election thing in November. Nonetheless, the 44th president made a promise to the American people that he was going to chill extremely hard after January 20, and he's keeping itin the British Virgin Islands, on Richard Branson's private island, with his hat backwards:

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Finally, Obama can enjoy his vacation with at least a 60-percent certainty that Fox News isn't bashing him for it at the top of every hour. (His disgusting habit of "playing golf" was a frequent feature, as was the general notion that he took a huge amount of vacation timeimplying that the first black president didn't want to work and/or was lazy. In reality, he took far fewer vacation days than George W. Bush: By August 2014, Obama had taken 125 full or partial days off during his presidency. At the same point in his tenure, Bush had taken 407.)

Look, we might be tumbling over the edge of reason into the chaotic nihilism of a post-truth existence, but Obama has earned the right to put 'em up for a bit. (In truth, his political interventions didn't move the needle much over the last year.) He has released one statement on his successor's behavior, criticizingin rather mild termsPresident Trump's definitely-not-a-Muslim-Ban, but otherwise there's been nary a peep. You've got to think that won't last forever thoughanother promise he made. Don't sleep on Barry O.

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President Obama Is Posted Up with His Hat Backwards on Richard Branson's Private Island - Esquire.com

ACE program benefits low-income communities – Observer Online

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In 1993, Fr. Sean McGraw, C.S.C. and Fr. Tim Scully, C.S.C. received $5,000 from the President of the University to found the Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) with the goal of preserving and spreading access to quality Catholic education throughout the country.

The core mission of the program is to provide a ray of hope through educational excellence to underserved children, Scully said in an interview.

Scully, who now serves as chair of the ACE Advisory Board, said the program initially began by training 40 recent college graduates nearly all from Notre Dame in education and sending them to teach in Catholic schools across the country, typically in low-income communities, as ACE Teaching Fellows.

Since its inception, the highly-selective ACE Teaching Fellows program now receives over 400 applications a year and selects approximately 90 graduates roughly half of which graduated from Notre Dame to participate in the program.

We live in intentional communities of four to seven people, Scully said. Were in 35 cities across the United States. These teaching fellows go out into their communities and teach in underserved Catholic schools for a period of two years, and they return to campus during the summers to receive a masters degree and accreditation and licensing as a teacher. I would describe it as an awesome leadership experience where youre giving your heart and soul away to needy kids.

There are roughly 180 ACE Teaching Fellows currently operating in schools around the country.

We started this effort in a sense because it was so difficult for some under-resourced dioceses and schools to find great teaching talent, and so were looking for very talented people not necessarily the highest GPAs and the highest GREs but were really looking for people who, in addition to native talent, just kind of bring a passion and a zeal for our mission, Scully said.

He said the program has expanded considerably since its founding, now managing several independent schools, as well as other programs.

Since we didnt have a department of education we had no ability to impart proper professional training to those folks, he said. At the outset we outsourced our educational training to our partner institution on the WestCoast, the University of Portland. They provided the masters degree for the first four years of our program.

ACE now runs 15 Notre Dame ACE Academies, fully staffed and funded by the Alliance.

[Since then] weve built the Institute for Educational Initiatives, which houses the masters degrees and the faculty, and so weve really built a pretty significant human capacity here at Notre Dame to provide professional training, today not just for teachers but for principals and for English language learners and for students who have special needs, Scully said. Its become a very large effort. Today were the largest provider of resources and talent to Catholic schools across the country. Were in one in every four Catholic schools in the U.S., mostly low-income schools and under-resourced schools.

Scully said that, under the leadership of the ACE staff, once-struggling schools are able to quickly recover.

For example, St. John the Evangelist [an elementary school in Tuscon, Arizona], which we took over 6 years ago, had 130 students and was about to close, serving hispanic students in the sixth-poorest zip code in the country, he said. Today that school has 450 kids in it. The student achievement scores have gone from the mid-to-low teens to the mid-sixtieth percentile.

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Disparities in minority unemployment targeted by Iowa officials – DesMoinesRegister.com

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Gov. Terry Branstad talks with reporters Monday, Jan. 6, 2017, in Des Moines. Behind him is Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend, and Marvin DeJear, director of the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families.(Photo: William Petroski/Des Moines Register)Buy Photo

Underemployment of minority Iowanswill be targeted by a special initiative of the State Workforce Development Board, Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announcedMonday.

The board is establishing a subcommittee with a goal of reducing minority joblessness by at least 5 percent within the next five years, or bringing the minority unemployment rate to a position that matches the state average for unemployment,Branstad said.

Iowa's statewide unemployment rate dropped to 3.6 percent in December. But,according to the latest Census information,African-Americans had an unemployment rate of 14.2 percent, Native Americans had a rate of 11 percent, Asian-Americans had a rate of 5.3 percent (other Pacific Islanders had a rate of 13.6 percent) and Hispanic Americans had a rate of 8.1 percent. The statewide average in the Census data was 3.9 percent.

It is unacceptable that we have such a huge disparity between our average unemployment rate and the rates in our minority communities," Branstad said. "We must be focused in our efforts to address this issue, and the minority outreach subcommittee is the first step."

Marvin DeJear, director of the Evelyn K. Davis Center for Working Families in Des Moines,said minorities are the fastest-growing segment of Iowa's population. He believesthe state can't wait to address the unemployment disparities between minorities and the rest of the state's working population.

"We have to be more intentional about their success," DeJear said.

Four counties have been identified as pilot communities:Polk, Dubuque, Black Hawk and Pottawattamie. These counties were selected based on having high concentrations of minority residents and unemployment rates, state officials said.

Listening tours will be held in the spring, which will provide opportunities for members and leaders of the communities to gather a broad perspective and identify connections and influences within communities, state officials said.A strategic plan will then be developed.The subcommittee will be chaired by State Workforce Board member Andy Roberts, who is business manager for Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 33.

The push for the initiative came from former state Rep. Wayne Ford, a Democrat who represented an inner-city legislative district in Des Moines.Branstad and Reynolds announced the plansat anews conference in Des Moines at the Evelyn K. Davis Center, which helps individuals achieve career goals.Thecenter is a partnership between theCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines,United Way of Central IowaandDes Moines Area Community College (DMACC).

Reynolds said the subcommittee's work will be aligned with the goals of the state'sFuture Ready Iowa Alliance, which seeks to have 70 percent of Iowa's workforce obtainingeducation or training beyond high school by the year 2025. She is co-chair of the alliance and said Iowahas a tremendous opportunity to close the skills gap inminority communities, while helping Iowa families find stable, good-paying jobs.

Iowa offers programs that are working," Reynolds said. "We need to do a better job of matching those programs and job opportunities to Iowans who are eligible to take advantage of them."

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Disparities in minority unemployment targeted by Iowa officials - DesMoinesRegister.com