Black Immigrant Daily News

Le Baccha Festival, rassemblant plus de 15 000 festivaliers par jour ces 13 et 14 août accueillera cette année le projet « La Baccha sans tracas » de La Croix-Rouge.

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Charlestown, Nevis, August 10, 2022 (NIA) — Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis, and Minister of Finance in the Nevis Island Administration (NIA), says the government is cautiously optimistic with respect to the economic outlook for the island as key indicators reflect a strong first quarter for 2022.

“The economic outlook for the rest of the year, I think we’re cautiously optimistic because our tourism season this year has been much longer that anticipated. As a matter of fact we still have groups that have come and are at the Four Seasons Resort (Nevis)…

“We expect that the prospects are relatively good. My last update from the Ministry of Finance officials, which I received just about three weeks ago, suggested that we are on the right track. We were marginally ahead of projections in terms of revenue and behind in terms of expenditure. It means that is a good place to be. Of course let me hasten to say that we would have done that during the better days, because we understand that the Tourism industry contributes most during the winter months so from January, February, March, and April. This year we’ve gone much longer than anticipated and we hope that that trend will continue,” he said.

The Premier, who is also responsible for Tourism and Human Resources, revealed that employment and income levels on the island are trending upwards. This, he said is, another sign of economic recovery in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.

“We have seen a job report from Social Security that gives us a snapshot as to the position as of April 2022. As of April on the island of Nevis, the number of employees increased by 3.5 percent over last year. The number of jobs in Nevis increased by 5.9 percent over the same period last year. The gross monthly wages increased by a massive 12 percent over the same period in 2021. The gross monthly wages per employee increased by 8.1 percent over that same period in 2021, and the gross monthly wages per job increased by 5.7 percent on the island of Nevis over the same period 2021.”

He noted that the figures represent the categories measured by Social Security Scheme and do not reflect persons self-employed in the informal sector.

By way of comparison, on St. Kitts the number of employees declined by 0.1 percent in 2022 over the same period in 2021; the number of jobs in increased by 0.5 percent; the gross monthly wages increased by 4.4 percent; and the gross monthly wages per employee in St. Kitts increased by 4.5 percent.

Premier Brantley said the employment and revenue statistics on Nevis thus far are encouraging with respect to a much-needed increase in economic momentum.

“I think that those figures are welcomed figures and they show that we are moving in the right direction coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona have sold off even more of their club assets in the hopes of meeting the Spanish league’s financial rules so Robert Lewandowski and their other signings can play in the season opener.

Barcelona said Friday that they had agreed to sell 24.5% of their Bar?a Studios production hub to Orpheus Media in a deal that would earn them 100 million euros ($103 million).

Last month Barcelona sold an initial 25% stake in their production hub to Socios.com, a blockchain provider, for another 100 million euros as well as 25% of their Spanish league television rights for the next 25 years for nearly 670 million euros ($689 million).

All told, the heavily indebted Catalan club has mortgaged its future for 870 million euros ($895 million) in order to sign Lewandowski from Bayern Munich along with other talented newcomers.

Regarding the sale of nearly 50% of their production hub, Barcelona said in a statement that “with this investment the strategic partners in Bar?a Studios show confidence in the value of the project and the future of digital content in the world of sport.”

It also comes with Barcelona yet to register their new signings with the Spanish league. Barcelona open the season on Saturday at home against Rayo Vallecano.

Thanks to the money they have made by selling their assets, Barcelona have been able to strengthen their squad by signing Lewandowski, winger Raphinha and defender Jules Kound? for a combined 160 million euros ($165 million).

But the Spanish league has strict financial requirements that limit the amount clubs can spend on players’ salaries and transfers based on the clubs’ financial health. Despite efforts to reduce costs and pay down their debt, Barcelona still hold 1 billion euros ($1 billion) in debt and have seen their salary cap slashed by the league in recent seasons.

So, as of Friday morning, they had not registered Lewandowski, Raphinha, Kound?, free agent arrivals Franck Kessi? and Andreas Christensen, or Ousmane Demb?l? and Sergi Roberto, who both signed new contracts recently after their old ones had expired and so are considered new signings by the league.

This new injection of another 100 million euros should help Barcelona’s financial balance that they present to the league and increase their chances of being able to register all those players.

The club is also pushing to sell players such as Samuel Umtiti and Martin Braithwaite that are either unwanted by coach Xavi Hern?ndez or have big salaries like Frenkie de Jong.

Teams have until the end of the month to register new players if they want to play in the Spanish league this season. Real Betis are also still waiting to register several players.

Barcelona club president Joan Laporta said recently that he was confident that his club will be able to field its latest acquisitions.

But it would be yet another blow to Barcelona’s reputation if their star signings are not able to play at Camp Nou on Saturday.

Orpheus Media is run by Catalan businessman Jaume Roures, the owner of Mediapro, a major television company involved in Spanish football but whose 2020 broadcast rights deal for the French league collapsed. Roures was a major financial backer of Laporta when he returned to run the financially troubled club in 2021.

Roures said on Friday that he was not sure if the money he paid Barcelona would be sufficient.

“The league won’t have any problems with this operation,” Roures told Cadena SER radio. “If the 100 million euros are enough, I don’t know. If it isn’t, the (necessary) amount must be close to that.”

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The rowdy couple videotaped in a brawl with the Police at the Woods Mall, in May, has been sent to Her Majesty’s Prison for missing their scheduled court date – even after being reminded the day before.

The matter came up for hearing on Wednesday, August 10, and 24-year-old Chantel Sibilist and her partner, 35-year-old Jahwer Christopher, both of Marble Hill, were not present in court.

Reportedly, a police officer who works at the court had advised them, on Tuesday night, August 9, that their case was to be heard the following day.

At the time, the couple was watching a football match at King George V Ground, reports say.

After the duo learned that the court had issued a bench warrant for them, they reportedly showed up on Wednesday afternoon to make inquiries.

When Chief Magistrate Joanne Walsh asked why they had not shown up to court that morning, they reportedly told her they thought the case had been set for Thursday, August 11.

However, the Chief Magistrate, being aware that they were lying, saw their action as disrespect for the court. Accordingly, she remanded them to prison to ensure that they will be present for their next court appearance, set for sometime in September.

The Police had charged both accused with several counts of battery on police, resisting arrest and malicious damage, among other related offences, following the brawl outside the Payless Store at Woods.

The woman has several more charges than her partner. However, both have pleaded not guilty to all.

The couple had been refused entry to the store for not wearing face masks, which was a policy of the business place and was so indicated on a poster.

After they became confrontational with one of the workers, the Police were summoned; a fracas with the lawmen then ensued, and was caught on video.

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