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REFLECTIE / Iwan Brave “Kwikuitstoot goudopkoopbedrijven ver boven internationale norm.” Dat was voor mij oud nieuws. Daarom niet minder zorgwekkend
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PARAMARIBO — Bij een inval in een pand aan de Hiraweg is de 37-jarige Vikash M. aangehouden door de Criminele
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts and Nevis – Sagicor is continuing on its mission to highlight the causes, initiatives and programmes making a difference in communities across the region. This was seen at the official Helping Hands cheque handover where the team at Sagicor met with the representatives of Lake Health and Wellbeing to discuss upcoming support for the non-governmental organisation’s (NGO’s) initiatives across St. Kitts and Nevis.
Earlier this month, the financial services entity embarked on their newest corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, Helping Hands, a programme that will see the company working to uplift three non-governmental organisations (NGOs), following the submission of more than two hundred applications from various charities located in Sagicor’s operating territories across the Southern Caribbean.
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A suicide bomber struck an education centre in a Shiite area of the Afghan capital on Friday, killing 19 people and wounding 27, including teenagers who were taking university practice entry exams, a Taliban spokesman said.
The morning explosion at the centre took place in Kabul’s Dashti Barchi neighbourhood, an area populated mostly by ethnic Hazaras, who belong to Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community. The Islamic State group has carried out repeated, horrific attacks on schools, hospitals and mosques in Dashti Barchi and other Shiite areas in recent years.
Around 300 recent high school graduates, boys and girls had come to the Kaaj Higher Educational Centre at 6:30 a.m. to take practice exams, said one survivor, 19-year-old Shafi Akbary. The facility helps students prepare and study for the entrance exams, among other activities.
About an hour into the session, the blast went off.
“First, we heard the sounds of a few gunshots at the main gate. Everyone was worried and tried to run to a different direction,” said Akbary, speaking to The Associated Press over the phone. “Soon after that, a huge explosion occurred inside the centre.”
Akbary, who was unharmed, said he saw dozens of bodies and wounded people scattered around him. “I was so afraid and couldn’t even move myself to help them. Later, other people ran inside and took us out,” he added. Akbary said he has attended classes at the centre for the past six months.
Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman of the Kabul police who gave the casualty toll, said students were among the victims of the blast, but he did not specify how many. He said education centre in the area will need to ask the Taliban for additional security when they host events with big gatherings like Friday’s exam prep.
Police have arrested a suspect who may have links to the attack, Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said later. He was unable to provide any updates on the casualties.
The Emergency NGO Hospital in Kabul said in a tweet it had received 22 patients so far, adding that most of them were women aged 18-25 who were taking an exam.
Husnia Azimi was one of those killed in the suicide bombing. She left home Friday morning to attend the exam, even though her sister Zainab told her it was late and not to go.
“Once she left, it was around 09:00 a.m. that we heard about the explosion,” said Zainab. “We didn’t hear its sound, but once we got the news, we went to all the hospitals, Ali Jinnah hospital, Watan hospital, and other hospitals.
“But when we went to the Emergency Hospital, we got a call from Ali Jinnah hospital that my sister’s dead body was found. Then we went back there and saw her body.”
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. But the Islamic State group, the chief rival of the Taliban, has been waging a campaign of violence that has intensified since the Taliban took power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Afghanistan’s Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims, have been a frequent target of the violence. In Dashti Barchi, IS carried out a 2020 attack on a maternity hospital that killed 24 people, including newborn babies and mothers, and an attack on a school in 2021 that killed more than 90, mostly schoolgirls. The neighborhood sees frequent bombings of minibuses and, earlier this year, a school and another education centre were hit near simultaneously, killing six.
The local police chief, Abdul Rahman Nafiz, criticized the centre for failing to inform security officials about the practice exam.
“Neither police officials nor intelligence officials were aware of any activity going on or a big exam happening in this centre, so the officials from the centre were very reckless,” he said. “Now our mujaheddin (Taliban police) are here, and they are investigating the incident.”
Amnesty International’s South Asia campaigner, Samira Hamidi, said Friday’s attack showed the “utter failure of the Taliban, as de-facto authorities, to protect the people of Afghanistan.
She said the Taliban have taken few measures to protect the public, especially Shiites and Hazaras “Instead, their actions of omission and commission have only further aggravated the risk to the lives of the people of Afghanistan especially those belonging to ethnic and minority communities,” she said.
The US charg? d’affaires for Afghanistan, Karen Decker, condemned Friday’s attack in a tweet.
“Targeting a room full of students taking exams is shameful; all students should be able to pursue an education in peace & without fear,” she said. “We hope for a swift recovery for the victims & we grieve with the families of the deceased.”
The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF said it was appalled by Friday’s horrific attack. “Children and adolescents are not, and must never be, the target of violence,” it said in a tweet.
Since seizing power, the Taliban have banned most girls beyond the sixth grade from attending school. But female high school graduates from previous years can go to university.
By EBRAHIM NOROOZI and RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press
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Public sector entities, civil and private organisations across the island will be joining the Jamaica Customer Service Association (JaCSA) in celebrating National Customer Service Week (NCSW) and the 19th Annual Service Excellence Conference in October 2022.
The celebrations will be held under the theme: “Celebrating Service Excellence: Reigniting a Culture of Care”.
The association has partnered with the Office of the Cabinet Public Sector Modernisation Division to celebrate NCSW on October 2 to 8, 2022, and the Service Excellence Virtual Conference will be held on October 4 to 5.
Join hundreds of business leaders, CEOs, customer service providers and professionals, managers, supervisors and front-line staff in registering for this free conference at https://hopin.com/events/ncsw-service-excellence-conference-2022.
JaCSA is a non-profit organization supported by volunteers in the industry whose objective is to promote the development and awareness of customer service excellence through research, education, training, and networking.
“The Association is committed to deepening a culture of service excellence nationally by transforming the customer service mindset and behaviour of Jamaicans – here and abroad” asserted Richard Rowe, Deputy Chairman of JaCSA with responsibility for leading the planning of NCSW.
A student of Kingston Technical High School was stabbed to death, allegedly by another student, on Thursday afternoon on the school’s compound in the country’s capital city.
Information reaching Lo
The schoolgirl killed during a fight with a peer at Kingston Technical High School on Hanover Street in the capital city on Thursday afternoon has been identified.
She is 16-year-old Michion Campbe
“Reprehensible”.
That’s how Prime Minister Andrew Holness has described the action of two men caught on camera on Monday trying to break the lock off the gate that prevents individuals from enterin
Move to another facility comes on eve of anniversary of arrest 11 years ago, says Isat Buchanan
Retired Jamaican sprinter Veronica Campbell Brown has welcomed her second child, Zane Lucas Brown, with husband Omar.
The eight-time Olympic medallist announced her pregnancy via Instagram on her b
Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he will visit the community of Troy in North West Manchester where the community bridge collapsed more than a year ago, leaving residents up in arms with the authori
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CRIME SCENE: The area in Couva where a man was held for stealing several items including
powdered milk and baby oil on Wednesday. A video of the captured man was posted to
scoial media and quickly went viral. PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB –
A Couva man who stole several packets of powdered milk, bottles of baby oil and other items from a mini-mart on Wednesday was spared imprisonment by a magistrate on Thursday.
But he was still carted off to prison on a 25-year-old warrant for failing to pay a $750 fine for a similar offence.
Sharaz Faizal Mohammed, 51, who last lived at Concerned Citizen Street, California, appeared virtually before Couva magistrate Alexander Prince and admitted to the crime.
He was accused of stealing six packets of powdered milk, hand soap, three bottles of baby oil, shampoo and conditioner and three jars of Vaseline and a bottle of bleach altogether valued at $374, from Fusion Menage mini-mart, at the corner of Carlos Street and Couva Main Road, near the Couva Police Station.
In court, the police prosecutor told the magistrate the mini-mart owner wanted to employ Mohammed. depending on the outcome of the case, prompting the magistrate to call her to verify the information.
In passing sentence, Prince took into consideration Mohammed’s remorse and the sympathy of the mini-mart owner and ordered the prisoner to sign a bond for $10,000 to be on good behaviour for the next three years. He told Mohammed if he committed any offence during that period he would be brought back to court to be convicted and sentenced for the crime of larceny.
The magistrate did not take into account the outstanding warrant Mohammed had for a 1997 offence of larceny when he was found guilty of stealing $800 worth of household items and fined $750.
After learning of the previous conviction, the mini-mart owner reconsidered her offer of work.
A video posted on Facebook after Mohammed was held by the mini-mart owner and other civilians evoked an outpouring of sympathy from hundreds of people, who offered to pay for the items and support the man, who they presumed stole the items for a baby.
Other people criticised the store owner for pressing charges and condemned the person who recorded and shared the video of Mohammed sitting next to the groceries scattered on the ground.
Newsday on Thursday tried to unravel the truth in Couva and California, where Mohammed last lived.
The mini-mart owner spoke openly about the incident strictly off the record, saying she did not want any more attention on social media.
Shortly after the mini-mart opened for business around 8 am on Wednesday, Mohammed entered, carrying a bag and wearing a hat, and went to the rear shelves where CCTV footage showed him stuffing items into the bag.
The mini-mart owner chased him in her car and he dropped the bag and ran off. She and another villager they cornered Mohammed before police arrived.
After he left the shop, Mohammed switched his maroon T-shirt for a grey one.
He was asked repeatedly why he stole the items, but offered no response.
In court, Mohammed told the magistrate he could not get any work and had suffered three heart attacks. He said he was the father of a girl, but did not give her age.
A neighbour at Concerned Citizen Street, where Mohammed last lived before he moved out about two weeks ago, complained that Mohammed had stolen his ducks and chickens. The neighbour said he had often given Mohammed food and clothes, and was disappointed by his actions. He said he chased Mohammed out of the street after he broke his trust.
PC Knights of the Couva Police Station charged Mohammed.
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Municipal and regular police who responded to a domestic disturbance report held a man for having .3 grammes of cocaine in his pocket.
On Thursday, Steve Khan appeared virtually before Princes Town magistrate Indira Misir-Gosine and pleaded guilty.
She fined him $2,000 or, in default, he will serve three months with hard labour in jail.
WPC Pramanand and PC Pariman of the Princes Town municipal station, PC Ramdhani of the Princes Town station and other police were on joint patrol in the district. They responded to the disturbance report on Wednesday at 7. 50 pm.
When they arrived at the house at Lengua Road, they spoke to the family.
Pariman searched Khan and found the cocaine in the left back pocket of his pants.
Pariman cautioned and arrested Khan.
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A multi-layered image showing the bustle along the Brian Lara Promenade, Port of Spain. File photo/Jeff K Mayers
DATA from the Central Statistical Office (CSO) shows over 200,000 people will benefit from the recently-announced removal for income tax for those who earn $7,500 and under.
Finance Minister Colm Imbert announced the exemption during the 2023 budget presentation in Parliament on Monday.
Newsday sought data to show how many people in this country earn $7,500 and under from the CSO, which said it could only provide that figure for the first quarter of 2022.
The data showed some people earned as little as $250 a month and up to $10,000 a month. However, the income brackets of 254,266 people were not given.
CSO statistician Joel Julien told Newsday by e-mail, “It should, however, be noted that due to the high number of not-stated responses for this question, the quoted totals for each income group is not exact for the working population.”
From the data, the total number of people earning under $7,500 was 232,844.
However, because the income bracket after that ranges from $7,500-$7,999, the total number of people who earned $7,500 flat could not be specified.
In total, those who earned $7,500 and up total 83,711.
The total number of workers represented in the data – including those whose income was not stated – is 570,821.
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The Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), asserting that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world, has urged member states to integrate health practices into the tourism industry.
According to CARPHA, this would enable a more sustainable and resilient Caribbean travel and tourism sector as the region continues to face many external shocks.
The regional health agency said these shocks included the performance of the global economies, natural disasters, and most recently, major health threats.
CARPHA’s remarks came in a statement marking World Tourism Day on Tuesday.
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“In the Caribbean, we recognize that the health of Caribbean economies is closely related to the health of its travel and tourism industry given that the Caribbean is the most tourism-dependent region in the world,” the statement observed.
CARPHA referred to the ongoing COVID-19pandemic.
And the organisation noted that the pandemic had demonstrated the critical necessity for health in tourism.
“It was propelled by travel, devastating tourism, resulting in economic instability and threatening regional health security in the Caribbean,” CARPHA recalled.
“Health must be intertwined into Caribbean tourism to promote sustainable tourism and thereby, sustainable economies, social and economic well-being,” the regional health agency declared.
It observed that in keeping with CARPHA’s mandate, the agency’s Regional Tourism and Health Programme (THP) was developed.
THP aims to strengthen regional and national health systems and enhance the health of visitor and resident populations by seeking to address the health, safety, and environmental sanitation threats to tourism.
CARPHA said the programme is elevating Caribbean tourism by building traveller’s confidence and supporting CARPHA Member States in reinstating healthier, safer travel to the Caribbean, during COVID-19 and as the pandemic changes its trajectory.
Headline photo: Stock image
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