Black Immigrant Daily News

Rédaction web

Une allemande victime d’un accident vasculaire cérébral sur un bateau de croisière, hier soir a été hélitreuillée et évacuée au Chu dans un état grave.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Russia added Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands to its list of unfriendly states on Sunday.

In a statement, the Russian Government said that it added 11 British Overseas Territories to its unfriendly nations list due to sanctions imposed by the United Kingdom.

“Eleven more British Overseas Territories have been added to the list [of territories] that supported the sanctions imposed by the UK on Russia. These are Bermuda, British Antarctic Territory, British Indian Ocean Territory, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Montserrat, Pitcairn Islands, St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Islands, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Akrotiri and Dhekelia and Turks and Caicos Islands,” the Russian government said.

Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Montserrat and Turks and Caicos Islands join Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, who were added to the list shortly after sanctions were announced.

Bermuda had been on Moscow’s radar after its Civil Aviation Authority revoked the airworthiness certificates of over 740 Russian aircraft that are registered on the island.

The Bahamas is the only other Caribbean state on Russia’s unfriendly list.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

Nearly 60 years after Jamaica’s independence, only 18 per cent of the population, including public sector workers, can count on a pension to provide some income stability in retirement.

Sanya Goffe, President of the Pensions Industry Association of Jamaica (PIAJ) explains that, after 40 years of work, the most vulnerable may become dependent on social protection programmes or the kindness of friends and family.

“Jamaica’s shifting demographic structure, low pension coverage and increasing old-age dependency ratio put a growing part of the population at risk of old age poverty and exposes the government to a future fiscal crisis,” asserted Goffe.

The PIAJ believes that one of the tools for addressing this problem is to automatically enrol all employed persons, not currently participating in a pension plan, into any one of the 13 approved retirement schemes. Employers would not have to contribute and once enrolled, employees would have the option to withdraw, but the experience in other countries has shown that most of those who are auto-enrolled remain in the scheme.

The result is higher levels of pension savings and participation often in the range of 50 per cent to 70 per cent.

Given that private sector pension coverage in Jamaica is currently between nine and 11 per cent, auto-enrolment could be a major game changer for Jamaica. “Eighteen years after the implementation of a regulatory framework for private sector pension plans in Jamaica, the private market alone has not been able to solve the dire problem of low coverage,” shared Goffe.

With low pension coverage and an ageing population, the PIAJ believes now is the time for the Government to act. The PIAJ embarked on an intense public engagement programme to present its auto-enrolment proposal during the year and met with a wide cross-section of stakeholder groups including the Business Process Industry Association, the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions, Jamaica Employers’ Federation, National Financial Inclusion Secretariat, Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce, Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO), approved retirement scheme providers, the Financial Deepening Implementation Committee and the American Chamber of Commerce.

Following the stakeholder engagements, the Association extended invitations to the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Labour, Bank of Jamaica, Financial Services Commission, Tax Administration Jamaica and the Leader of the Opposition and key members of his team. “We are almost at the end of our engagement process, having met with all the identified stakeholders except for the Ministry of Finance. There has been positive support for the introduction of an auto-enrolment programme and we received useful feedback on the proposal and the strategic approach to implementation from the meetings,” shared Goffe.

The next step is to meet with the Ministry of Finance to explore the proposal further. The concept paper put forward by the PIAJ aims at giving all working Jamaicans easier access to pension coverage through auto-enrolment and a reliable source of income after retirement.

Without extra income from work or private pensions, many senior citizens will face the harsh reality of choosing between paying their rent and buying food. Others will be forced to continue working, just to make ends meet or rely on their children for support.

The recently published Mercer 2022 Global Pensions Index reported that many individuals will not save for the future without an element of compulsion or auto-enrollment.

“The PIAJ is excited about the impact this proposal could have on improving retirement security for more Jamaicans and stands ready to collaborate with the Government to take this initiative forward,” stated Goffe.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) will officially resume regular visitation to all patients from Tuesday, November 1.

This comes as a result of resounding calls from patients, family members, and hospital staff to extend the visiting hours.

To this end, visitation to the hospital’s general medical and surgical wards, inclusive of the High Dependency Unit, will be facilitated between 12 pm and 1 pm, and 4 pm and 8 pm daily.

For critically ill patients receiving care in Intensive Care Units, shorter visiting hours will continue to be in effect to allow them the time necessary to rest and recover. Therefore, visitation to the Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Units (MICU and SICU) will continue to be facilitated between 11 am and 11:30 am, 4 pm and 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm and 6 pm daily.

Similarly, visitation to the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) will be facilitated between 12 pm to 12:30 pm, 4 pm to 4:30 pm, and 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm daily. However, visits to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) will only be facilitated for parents, and these visits will be allowed during the hours of 10 am and 7pm daily.

As it relates to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department, all patients will be allowed a parent, guardian, relative, caregiver or custodian to stay with them during their stay within the department.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

T-20. The last FIFA World Cup to grace Asian soil was hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002.

A time reigning world champions France would like to forget.

Kylian Mbappe mesmerized fans at the last World Cup and led France to the 2018 title

“Les Bleus” followed up their 1998 World Cup triumph with a first-round exit after defeats to Senegal and Denmark in Group A.

Four years later, after claiming their second world title, France will be cognizant of the events which took place in South Korea as they live up to their expectation of tournament contenders.

France possesses one of the most star-studded rosters in this year’s competition

A subpar performance in the 2021 UEFA European Championships and a near-relegation from League A of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, creates some concern for the French and their supporters.

Country: France

Capital: Paris

Population: 67.5 million

Confederation: UEFA (Europe)

Group: D

Professional League: Ligue 1

World Cup appearances: 16 (2022)

Qualification status: Winners of Group D (UEFA Qualifiers)

Key players: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, Spain), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, England), Aur?lien Tchouam?ni (Real Madrid), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, Germany)

Coach: Didier Deschamps (French)

Group mates: Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Prediction: France should have no struggles qualifying from the group stage, as a matter of fact, nothing less will be expected than finishing top of the group, unless the dreaded defending champions curse continues, and they are eliminated in the preliminary round.

If the French get beyond the curse, they are definitely World Cup champion contenders.

T-20. The last FIFA World Cup to grace Asian soil was hosted by Japan and South Korea in 2002.

A time reigning world champions France would like to forget.

“Les Bleus” followed up their 1998 World Cup triumph with a first-round exit after defeats to Senegal and Denmark in Group A.

Four years later, after claiming their second world title, France will be cognizant of the events which took place in South Korea as they live up to their expectation of tournament contenders.

A subpar performance in the 2021 UEFA European Championships and a near-relegation from League A of the 2022-23 UEFA Nations League, creates some concern for the French and their supporters.

Country: France

Capital: Paris

Population: 67.5 million

Confederation: UEFA (Europe)

Group: D

Professional League: Ligue 1

World Cup appearances: 16 (2022)

Qualification status: Winners of Group D (UEFA Qualifiers)

Key players: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, Spain), Kylian Mbappe (PSG, France), Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, England), Aur?lien Tchouam?ni (Real Madrid), Christopher Nkunku (RB Leipzig, Germany)

Coach: Didier Deschamps (French)

Group mates: Australia, Denmark, Tunisia

Prediction: France should have no struggles qualifying from the group stage, as a matter of fact, nothing less will be expected than finishing top of the group, unless the dreaded defending champions curse continues, and they are eliminated in the preliminary round.

If the French get beyond the curse, they are definitely World Cup champion contenders.

NewsAmericasNow.com